DT 

35-1 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Slielf...S^'T'l 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



HEHRT M. STASLEI 

IN DARKEST AFRICA! 




HENKY M. STANLEY. 




OK OCEAU TO OOEAH TO THE RESCUE OF 

-EMIN_PHSHH- 

PHILADELPHIA: 

BARCLAY & CO., 21 N. SEVENTH ST. 



THE WIZARD OF AFRICA. 



HENRY M. STANLEY'S 

LAST EXPEDITION 

THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. 



THE RESCUE OK EMIN PASHA. 



THRILLING STORY OF THE GREAT EXPLORER'S ADVENTURES 
AMONG THE WILD TRIBES OF THE UNKNOWN CONTINENT- 
FIGHTING FAMINE AND DISEASE— LONG MONTHS OF SUF- 
FERING IN DENSE FORESTS, HEMMED IN BY BLOOD- 
THIRSTY NATIVES— A GREAT REGION DEVASTATED 
BY ARAB SLAVE STEALERS, WHERE NO FOOD CAN 
BE OBTAINED— LIVING ON WILD FRUIT AND 
NUTS— ONE-HALF OF THE EXPEDITION 
PERISH. OR DESERT THEIR LEADER— 



>jt^/ MONTHS LOST IN THE WILDERNESS , / 
. '^ BECAUSE THE BOAT WAS LEFT !< 



BECAUSE THE BOAT WAS LEFT 
BEHIND BY THE PORTERS. 



0^ 



HORRORS OF THE INTERNECINE AVARS AND INTERNAL 

SLAVE TRADE. 



COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED. 



THE ONLY AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT EXPLORERS 
THRILLING ADVENTURES. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1890, BY BARCLAY & CQ. ^ ' -"-^^Hr ^S'^ 

KIN 131890 ■ 

PHILADELPHIA: *^ 

BARCLAY & CO., Publishers, 

21 NORTH SEVENTH ST. 



•■^ 



INTRODUCTION. 



In writing a history of the wonderful discoveries and thrilling adven- 
tures of the world's greatest explorer, Henry M. Stanley, in his last 
perilous march through the Dark Continent to the rescue of Emin Pasha, 
the author has taken his material from first sources, and through the lib- 
erality of Messrs. Barclay & Co., has been enabled to make exhaustive 
researches, so that he can safely say, without being accused of vanity, 
that this account of the African Wizard's last and most daring achieve- 
ment is historically correct. 

After untold privations, daring deeds, and amazing triumphs, Stanley 
rescues Emin Pasha from the savage hordes that had hemmed him in, and 
marches back with him in triumph, amid .the acclamations of both hem- 
ispheres. The Nineteenth century accords no deed more sublime than 
that of crossing, for the second time, from sea to sea, this wild country. 
His undaunted bravery in the face of danger, and victories over blood- 
thirsty-savages and wild beasts, have a resistless fascination to the reader. 

A brilliant panorama of tropical wonders passes before the gaze in 
reading this only authentic recital of the great explorer's triumphant 
march. In fancy the reader traverses vast and fertile plains, luxuriant 
valleys, and desert wastes. He sees savage tribes in their curious cos- 
tumes; their strange marriage customs; their ludicrous superstitions; 
their reckless deeds of violence ; monstrous social and religious rites, 
mvolving the frightful sacrifice of human life ; he witnesses grotesque war 
dances ; singular freaks of medicine men, and rain-makers ; strange antics 
of wizards ; he beholds the majestic lion, the gigantic hippopotamus and 
fierce crocodile, monkey tribes, gorillas, and venomous boa constrictors, 
the fleet-footed ostrich, giraffe and zebra, the huge rhinoceros, and 
bounding gazelle, and the ponderous elephant, jarring the earth with his 
heavy tread. He witnesses the adventures of the, chase, and deeds of 
daring, surpassing the most startling tales of romance. He is captivated 
with tropical birds, arrayed in plumage of unrivaled beauty, and with 
brilliant forms of insect life, wonderful as the gigantic beasts of the plain 
and jungle. All this, and much more, does the entranced and captivated 
reader witness as he mentally accompanies the Wizard of Africa through 
the Dark Continent. 

FRANCIS TRACY, E4itor. 

OS) 



THE RES6UE OF EHIN PASHA. 



WHO THE PLUCKY GOVERNOR OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA 
IS— HEMMED IN BY SAVAGE TRIBES. 

Henry M. Stanley's last expedition into the heart of Africa was 
planned for the relief of Emin Pasha. Emin had been appointed governor 
of a vast region. For a long period of time it was feared and Believed 
that he was having a desperate struggle in his great undertaking. Leopold' 
II., King of Belgium, was especially interested in ascertainirt'^ what was' 
the great explorer's situation, and what could be done for his relief, in ' 
case he was in straits. No more fitting man than Henry M. Stanley, who 
had discovered Livingstone in his desert home, and later on triumpha'ntly 
crossed the Dark Continent from ocean to ocean, could have been selected 
for such an important mission as the rescue of the doughty governor of 
the Congo, region. 

It was in the spring of 1887 that the King of Belgium determined to 
send Stanley to the relief of Emin Pasha, arid the movement awakened 
the interest, and invited the attention of the entire civilized World. The" 
fact that an able and active explorer, well known to ail the geographical 
societies of Europe, was, so to. speak, cast away in Central Africa," and 
unable to return to civilization, was most romantic. Little had been 
publicly known of the personality of the explorer prior to the general 
discussion awakened by the organization of this expedition, and even now 
but few people are thoroughly informed regarding his career. 

WHO EMIN PASHA IS. 

r 

Emin Pasha is an Austrian, and was born in 1840 at Oppeln, in Upper 
Silesia. His real name is Edward Schnitzer. After studying medicine for a 
time at Breslau, Berlin, and Heidelberg, he was appointed in 1868 a surgeon' 
in the Turkish army. His enemies caused it to be rumored that he had 
embraced Mohammedanism, but there is no positive evidence of this fact. 
He was sent to Egypt in 1878, and in March of that year, after Gordon' 
Pasha had been made governor-general of the Soudan, Di". Schnitzer 
received from him the appointment of governor of the Equatorial Prov- 
ince, with the title of Bey, being afterwards promoted to Pasha. He 
immediately thereafter set out for the province over which he was to rule. 
His remarkable energy and quick grasp of the situation became evident 
at once. The Equatorial Province was at the time of his assumption of 
authority over it in a terrible condition. It was a vast territory, contain- 
ing 6,000,000 inhabitants, and had been for years overrun by slave- 
traders, who did an enormous business, and went to every extreme, and 

(21) 



22 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

practised brutalities almost unparalleled in kidnapping the helpless natives. 
Within three years after becoming governor, Emin Pasha drove the slave- 
traders out of his dominions, and during that time he devoted himself to 
a study of the languages and customs of the races over whom he had 
been called to rule. 

MURDER, WAR AND HORRID SLAVERY ABOLISHED. 

The natives had the utmost confidence in him, and for their better 
education, he established training schools all over the province. Agri- 
culture was developed, and murder, war and slavery became things of 
the past. Emin's idea of government was to civilize the negroes in as 
short a time as possible, by the exercise of methods of kindness and con- 
sideration. To this end he appointed the most efficient men he could get 
as officers. 

Under his directions hospitals were built, roads were constructed 
through the country, and the natives were taught how to make wagons. 
Cotton, coffee, rice, indigo, and wheat were cultivated with success. In 
the meantime the country surrounding the territory of Emin Pasha 
remained in its original condition of barbarity, and in it the Arab slave- 
traders carried on their infamous traffic unmolested. 

These slave-traders had been the bitter enemies of Gordon and were 
now the most active supporters of the Mahdi. It was they who created 
for Emin his greatest difficulties. On first reaching Wadelai he suc- 
ceeded in forming friendly relations with the kings of Uganda and 
Unyoro, the latter continuing faithful to him. At Uganda a " new king 
came on the throne, who was under the influence of the Arab slave- 
traders and hostile to the missionaries, and he was able with the assist- 
ance of native tribes in various directions to imprison Emin in his own 
territory, so that from 1882 up to the time of his rescue by Stanley, he 
was entirely cut off from communication with the outside world. 

HEMMED IN BY SAVAGE TRIBES. 

In October, 1886, the first news was received of Emin's perilous 
position. He succeeded in getting a communication through to the coast 
by mea^s of negro runners. At that time he had 10 Egyptian and 15 
negro officers, and 20 Coptic officials. He expected that his ammunition 
would last until the end of 1886, and he was confident that he would be 
able to maintain his position still longer, if not attacked by the wild tribes 
surrounding him. He feared this latter event, and there was danger that 
the followers of the Mahdi would assault him in his stronghold, as soon 
as it was discovered that he had no more ammunition. He appealed for 
assistance, and was sure that if a relief force could be sent to him, it 
would not only save his life, and the lives of the simple men and women 
who looked up to him for protection and help, but it would prevent the 
province from lapsing back into barbarism. 

FIRST NEWS FROM THE IMPRISONED EXPLORER. 

Dr. Junker, the Russian explorer, left Emin Pasha January i, 1886, and 
after encountering many dangers, reached Europe. It was his account 
that called the attention of the civilized world to the former's perilous 



I 




<37 






4 



(24) 



^ \ 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 25 

position. It was known that in the spring of 1882 Emin had gone down 
the Nile to Khartoum to consult General Gordon with regard to the 
Mahdi. He was instructed to return to his province and defend himself 
as best he could. This he did, but he was gradually forced to relinquish 
outlying stations. In a letter dated at Wadelai, near Lake Albert 
Nyanza, he said : 

" I am glad to be able to tell you that the province is in complete safety 
and order. It is true that the Bari gave us some trouble, but I was soon 
able to restore order in the district. Since I last wrote yoa all the stations 
have been busily employed in agricultural work and at each one consid- 
erable cotton has been planted and is doing well. This is all the more 
important for us, as it enables us to a certain extent to cover our naked- 
ness. I have also introduced the shoemaker's art^ and you would be 
surprised to see the results. We now make our own soap, and we have, 
at least, enough meat and grain, so we have sufficient to keep life going. 
Of course such luxuries as sugar, etc., we have not seen in many a long 
day. I forgot to say that we are growing most splendid tobacco. 

" Our relations with Kabrega, King of Unyoro, still continue friendly. 
He has had the goodness to send my letters to Mr. Mackay in Uganda, 
and has permitted me to buy several necessary articles from the Zanzibar 
Arabs who live in his country." 

Accompanying this letter was a detailed account of his travels and 
adventures in the mysterious Dark Continent. 



EMIN PASHA IN THE WILDS. 

BEING SENT TO UNYORO BY "CHINESE" GORDON HE 
MAKES A PERILOUS MARCH THROUGH THE WILDER- 
NESS. 

" It was in May of the year 1887," says Emin, in his graphic account 
of his travels, "that His Excellency, Gordon Pasha, prompted by the 
wish to be on good terms with the negro princes in the south, entrusted 
me with the honorable commission to visit, if possible, the king of Un- 
yoro, Kabrega, who, since Baker's retreat from Masindi, had always been 
our enemy, and to try and bring out a peaceable solution of existing diffi- 
culties. Favored by fortune, I succeeded in my mission, and the follow- 
ing pages are the result of my stay with Kabrega. I set myself the task 
of collecting all that I could learn of Unyoro, which few travelers have . 
seen, its people, habits and customs. In this my knowledge of the lan- 
guage was a great help." 

We left Mruli on December 13, 1887. The road, as far asKisuga, was 
already known to us, and led through a slightly hilly country, gently 
sloping. away from the river towards Khor Kafu, into which it drains. Aloes 
and acacias abound. A circular basin, cut, as it were, in the red ground and 
filled with clear water, provided a welcome resting place for my porters, who, 
after a short repose, continued the journey, and, two hours later, stopped 
for their midday rest under a group of trees, and near little pools of 
water, alongside of which grew a bush which was new to me, with shining 



26 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

dark green leaves and white blossoms, resembling a passion-flower. Its 
red berries are eaten by children. 

DRENCHED WITH RAIN. 

My companions, Kapempe, a Montongali of Kabrega's, entertained 
me by mimicking in the most amusing manner the gestures of the porters 
who found their burdens too heavy. These people express astonishment 
in a way quite hew to me — a rapid raising of the closed fists to the crown 
of the head, from which they are drawn energetically to the forehead. The 
rumbling of thunder in the distance and dark clouds overhead warned us 
to start, but we were hardly on our way when the rain poured down in 
torrents. Every moment a porter would stop to cover himself with a 
banana leaf or to take off the ox hide which serves him for a dress, in 
order to protect it from the rain, which renders it very hard. In this way 
the whole column was brought to a stand still — a very pleasant episode in 
such a rain as this, which poured in at one's collar and out at one's boots. 
Then, in great haste, we again started forward through banana fields, till, 
after a march of seven hours, we reached Kisuga, where we were obliged 
to rest the next day to dry our baggage. 

When at last we were ready to start, one of the soldiers who accom- 
panied me was taken ill, I expect from fear of the dangers he apprehended 
on the journey. I had therefore but one soldier left to take charge of my 
horse, and my two servants, boys between ten and twelve years of age ; 
an imposing escort ! As I had heard that Kabrega was a great beggar 
I left everything that was not absolutely indispensable, even my gun, in 
Kisuga ; and then we started in the direction of Londu, along the road 
that we had previously trodden, through tall grass and numerous banana 
groves, in which reddish yellow flowers threw their tendrils across our 
path. The soldiers marched in total silence a contrast to the noisy Wa- 
ganda ; no drum was carried with us. Our halts became frequent, and 
the porters seemed to be very hungry, as on every possible opportunity 
they picked up some bananas or a sweet potato. Towards midday we 
reached Londu, the defenceless stockade of which, with many a spot 
charred black with fire, produced a very painful impression. Small herds 
of bullocks and goats and a few solitary inhabitants were visible in the 
vicinity. 

THEY DRESSED IN OX-HIDE CLOTHING. 

After having settled ourselves for the night as best we could, we sent 
to the chief of the district, who lived near, to request of him porters for 
the morrow, as Kabrega had promised them. I should have preferred 
my own porters from Mruli, as I could then have been more independent 
in my movements ; but Rionga's people absolutely refused to follow me 
into the land of their deadly enemy, and thus I had to rely upon Kabrega's 
people. Biabo, the Matongali, who had charge of this place, paid me a 
visit in company with five or six of his men. They were reddish brown 
in color, except one who was deep black, a man from the district of Shi- 
falu, which lies near the rapids of Tada. The color of the people through- 
out this country is various, in degree from black to yellow, but for the 
most part red. They clothe themselves in soft ox-hides, from which the 
hair has been removed, except at the borders, where a strip of hair of two 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 27 

fingers' breadth has been left as an ornament ; their costume is completed 
by arm rings and anklets made of brass and necklets composed of roots. 
The head is not shaved ; shaving is a sign of mourning ; indeed you very 
often see very elegant corkscrew-like curls. 

A small present of beads procured me in return several baskets full of 
sweet potatoes, and as I had brought a bullock with me from Kisuga, and 
presented it to my porters, song and revelry lasted far into the night. 

During the night the rain began to fall gently, and early in the morn- 
ing it poured down in torrents ; but in spite of that the promised porters 
arrived, and I prepared for the journey. Considering that the baggage 
would get an unavoidable soaking, and that the troublesome and useless 
tent which we had dragged with us required, when wet, five men to carry 
it, I determined to wait ; and I did well, for at two o'clock it still rained 
as persistently as ever, so our further march was put off until the follow- 
ing morning. My porters, who last night devoured an ox, were now 
lying hungrily around a smoking fire ; and I too had only what was abso- 
lutely necessary. 

Next morning a very cloudy sky did not promise well for our further 
journey ; nevertheless we broke up camp in good time in order to reach 
our distant quarters at the appointed hour. A very hilly country spread 
itself out before us ; both sides of the way were flanked with solitary hills, 
and our progress was rendered irksome by grass and bushes often ten 
feet high. This day, too, we did not escape the rain ; and as only grass 
and forest lay before us, and neither huts nor plantations were to be seen, 
we were compelled to press vigorously forward, until, about two o'clock 
in the afternoon, we reached a small group of miserable huts, where we 
were obliged to remain for the night. 

A SAVAGE CHIEF MAKES A VALUABLE PRESENT, 

The inhabitants had fled at our approach, but we found fires still burn- 
ing in the huts. Matongali Vukimba, the chief of the village, did not keep 
us long waiting, for we had hardly placed our things under cover when 
he, accompanied by two subchiefs and several of his people, put in an 
appearance, to pay his respect to me, with a goat and two sheep, quite a 
luxury. The people impressed me favorably; they were modest and 
unpretentious, and satisfied with anything that was given them. If they 
were allowed to choose between glass beads and cloth, they chose the 
latter. This place was called Kimanya. 

The Wanyora appeared to be very much afraid of dew and rain ; at any 
rate they will never get up early in the morning; and if, when on the 
{march, they come upon grass wet with dew, they lay down their loads 
land quickly tie before them either a large banana kaf, or a bunch of dry 
leaves in order to protect themselves. A woman who was travelling with 
us was so completely covered with dead leaves that she looked exactly 
like a wandering withered bush. 

On the 1 8th, we started very early, but after ten minutes* march we 
came to a halt near an extensive plantation of bananas and sweet potatoes, 
in order to change our porters. Matongali Vukimba had the best inten- 
tions ; but much palaver and some blows were required before he was 
able to convmce the people that they must go on ; and when, after an 
hour's halt, we were again on the move, he followed us, with one of his 
subchiefs, gesticulating and shouting in such an energetic manner that I 



28 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

expected that every minute a fight would ensue. At last, however, the 
dispute was settled, and soon after Vukimba turned back to his village. 

We then proceeded upon our way, stopping, however, at every group 
of huts to try and press porters into our service. The road led at first 
through fine fields and banana groves, then up and down through high 
wild grass. On either hand, at a distance of two or three miles, there 
rose mountain groups forming distinct ranges. Magnificent " gallery " 
woods skirted two muddy rain gutters, which we crossed. 

The silvery-haired guereza was seen among the tops of gigantic trees 
which were enveloped in climbing plants. Other monkeys swung among 
the creepers, and phoenix bushes formed the underwood. In the hollows 
where the rain collects there was very little water : it reaches nearly to 
our waists ; but the mud and imbedded roots made our progress very 
difficult. The horse I had with me was perfectly useless ; I managed far 
better on foot. 

MARCHING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 

A short march brought us to another stream with magnificent gallery 
wpods. Red tulip-like flowers shone against the thick dark foliage like 
flames of fire. We now left the high grass and marched upon a road 
which had been formed by pulling up the grass and cutting down the 
trees. Unfortunately, however, marching was rendered very difficult by 
the existence of deep holes where roots had been pulled up. For some 
distance a stream flowed by us at our right hand, its course being marked 
by dense foliage of overhanging shrubs. We then once more arrived at 
clearings, where bananas, sweet potatoes, and lubies intermingled, and 
here and there the green stalks of maize were seen, or the broad leaves 
of Virginia tobacco. 

Compounds containing three or four huts lay scattered throughout the 
cultivated land. They were hemispherical, and their grass roofs stretched 
down to the ground all around, except where a porch was formed over 
the door. The frames were made of light reed wicker-work and sup- 
ported by numerous poles. Inside the huts were not exactly inviting ; 
they were divided into two compartments, the floors of which were 
covered with hay, and infested with innumerable mice, cockroaches, 
crickets and fleas. Household utensils were not numerous, for the 
inhabitants had fled before us taking all their treasures with them. 

We halted at Kitongali in one of these clearings, where I was fortunate 
enough to obtain three huts for myself, my people and my belongings. 
Here I had the pleasure of a visit from the village chief, a good-looking 
young man, whose father is Kabrega's confidant. He made quite an im- 
posing figure, being clad in thin white skins, over which hung a reddish- 
brown loose robe ; his servant bore after him a double-barreled shot gun. 
The usual presents having been exchanged, he sent a messenger to 
Kabrega to apprise him of my approach, for the next day we expected to 
reach our destination. 

THE CLOUDS OPENED AND THE RAIN FELL. 

It is always uncomfortable to travel during the rainy slason, because 
you are'never master of the situation, which indeed, leaving the rain out 
of the question, is rarely the case. From midnight the thunder rolled on 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 29 

all sides, thick fog enveloped the country and it rained as if it were abso- 
lutely necessary for the clouds to rid themselves of their u^hole contents 
that day. Of course it was no good thinking of further progress in such 
weather, and, to make matters worse, my hut was not water-tight. I had 
seen none of my people that day, for on account of the rain, and possibly 
also of hunger, for meat does not satisfy them, and corn could not be 
obtained, they were having a long sleep. 

Notwithstanding my orders that if the sun came out I intended to 
march forward no preparations were made for a start. My people in- 
formed me flatly that the grass was too wet and the sun too hot, and 
that, therefore, I must wait until the next morning. A beautifully colored 
woodpecker hammered upon a tree trunk, which process he accompanied 
by an angry twittering as if he were indignant at his tiresome work. In 
the evening we heard the almost deafening chirping of a huge brown 
grasshopper. The creature is three inches long ; it had been attracted 
by the light, and hopped about the hut. 

All the trees were literally covered with the nests of astrilda, in which 
I found both eggs and young. A lower nest contained the mother (at 
night) and her eggs. Above this was a small nest for the father. 

IS IT THE "MISSING LINK?" 

The chimpanzee is not uncommon in the southern districts of Unyoro. 
People here say that it has nests in the trees, and as it chooses the 
highest trees to build in, it is very difficult to catch. Parrots were also 
seen flying all over in twos and threes. This parrot is a high, heavy 
flyer, screams continuously during its flight, and is one of the earliest 
birds. Even before sunrise it is heard screaching ; towards midday it 
vanishes, however, in order to take its noon-day rest, and is seen again 
from four o'clock until the evening. The numerous sycamores provide 
it with the necessary food. Possibly also it feeds on bananas, at least 
some of the specimens I obtained ate this food readily and preferred it to 
sugar-cane. The bird is very common in Uganda, and is sometimes 
kept in the huts, where, without any instruction, it soon learns to speak. 
In Usoga, where the bird is exceedingly numerous, it is caught in 
small nets, and the red feathers from its tail are plucked out and used 
as ornaments. 

Baboons of several species are common in the mountains. I have 
been told two or three times that black parrots are to be found; but as 
their existence here has not been proved, it is probably a dark specimen 
of some other bird that has been seen. Still, it is perfectly true that 
many new discoveries remain to be made here. 

RECEIVED BY THE KING'S GUARDS. 

At midnight the horns were blown — the drum serves only as a. war 
signal — to assemble the porters. Yet, at six in the morning not ten 
persons had turned up, and when, after half an hour's bargaining, a few 
more negroes appeared, no one seemed to know the road, although 
Kabrega's capital could not have been more than five or six hours distant. 
I was therefore compelled to send two men to Kabrega to beg him to 
send me a guide, knowing all the while that this ignorance was a mere 
pretence ; fortunately I had been able to procure a sheep and a few fowls, 



30 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

as well as some sesame for my people in exchange for a few beads, so 
at least they did not starve. There were several heavy storms of rain 
that day. 

At last on the 21st we started. The horns had been blowing for 
hours and my people had urged me to march. As, however, I had heard 
the beating of a big drum for about half an hour, I concluded that 
Kabrega was sending one of his chiefs to meet me, and so it turned out, 
for soon after Makango (big chief) Bkamba appeared, accompanied by a 
drummer, a gun-boy and some five or six other people to greet me and 
to escort me at once to Kabrega. Everything was now arranged like 
magic, and off we marched, our luggage in advance. We climbed up 
through well-cultivated land, in which were many huts ; then, turning 
round by a large banana grove, we descended to a big swamp, the cross- 
ing of which, although it was only about two hundred yards broad, 
occupied a whole half hour because the water between each single thicket 
reached up to our necks and the roots caught our feet like nooses. Only 
one who has experienced such a passage can form an idea of its un- 
pleasantness, especially when stinging grass abounds. 

THE HORNLESS CATTLE OF UNYORO. 

When we at last found ourselves safely on the opposite bank the porters,, 
who were most wonderfully willing, went on before, and we passed through 
dense masses of grass, which occasionally gave place to meadow land,, 
until we reached a sort of defile between two ranges of mountains, and 
marched on, up and down hill. In a banana grove, where fig trees and 
phoenix palms were growing, we saw the fresh trail of two large hyenas. 

At length we left the mountainous defile, entering again into high grass 
and reeds, pausing at last to rest by a small brook with clear bubbling 
water, which flowed over mica slabs, and tasted strongly of iron. Gray 
cows, possessing neither horns nor humps, stood in the water. They 
destroy the horns of the cattle here as soon as they commence to grow, 
by cauterizing them with a red-hot iron, in order to enable them to pass 
with greater ease through the tall grass and the jungle. All the houses 
lay at a distance from the road. In order to impress the stranger with the 
immense size of the land, and therefore with the greatness of its ruler, 
they led us around for days, when the direct route would hardly occupy 
three marching hours. 

HOUSES TO HONOR HONEST GODS. 

Soon after crossing the small stream we found ourselves again between 
rows of mountains, the tops of some of which were from 1500 to 200a 
feet above the general elevation of the country, which is probably as 
much as 4000 feet. Then followed cultivated fields, with many tiny huts 
erected in them, the idea being to obtain a good harvest, from the gods, 
in whose honor they had been built. Giant reeds came next, and at last 
the mountains opened out, and before us lay Kabrega's headquarters. 
The huts which had been prepared for me lay to the left of the road, 
upon a hill, above which high mountains towered. The spot is about ten 
minutes distant from the great compound of huts which comprises the 
king's residence, and which, with another compound lying near it, forms 
the village. 




Male 



and female of the Niam Niam tribe.— Pa^e 77, 



(32) 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 33 

Our goods were hardly under shelter when the rain began to pour and 
the thunder to roll. Late in the evening Katgrua, Kabrega's prime 
minister, came to visit me and to bring me his master's greetings. Ka- 
brega had intended to receive me immediately, but was prevented from 
doing so on account of the rain. For the same reason it had been impos- 
sible for him to gather together for me any kind of present, and therefore 
he begged me to excuse it. I remarked that I was very much obliged to 
King Kabrega, but that I had not come in order to receive presents. 
Makango Bkamba, whom I had sent with my greetings to the king, said 
that Kabrega would see me to-morrow. 



KABREGA, THE MERRY MONARCH. 

EMIN ENTERTAINED BY A SAVAGE RULER WHO WAS 
EVERY INCH A KING, AND HAD BEEN SLANDERED 
BY PREVIOUS TRAVELLERS. 

The sun had hardly risen when Katagrua arrived, bringing with him 
the present he had yesterday led me to expect. Two fat white oxen with 
long horns, a package of fine white salt (from the Albert Lake), three 
packages of corn and two of meal, of the same kind of corn, were laid 
before me, together with several jars of very good banana wine, accom- 
panied with Kabrega's best greetings. After Katagrua had gone I had 
barely time to prepare the presents which I had brought for the king, 
and which far surpassed anything that he could have ever received 
before, for exactly at midday my guide, Kapempe, appeared, this time 
dressed in presents from me, and our procession started. It was headed 
by three Matongalis ; then followed my guide, Kapempe, with all his 
people ; then two porters carrying the presents for Kabrega ; and I, in 
uniform, on horseback, attended by my soldiers, brought up the rear. 

The road was full of papyrus. We passed over a bridge which had 
been built in my honor, then again up hill, past two small groups of huts, 
in the shadow of which stood crowds of staring people. We crossed an 
open square, leaving to our right the king's cattle yard, in which were 
numerous houses for the Wahuma herdsmen. A circular building rose be- 
fore us, with lofty entrances at the front and back, the space before which 
was roofed in. The floor of the building was clean and strewn with green 
papyrus leaves ; in the middle of it sat the king, upon a high stool, sur- 
rounded by his office-bearers, crouching upon the floor; behind him stood 
about ten men and boys, armed with guns. At his feet crouched Man- 
yara, the interpreter, a man with a bird-like face. My stool was placed 
close to that occupied by the king, and we surveyed each other intently 
for several minutes. 

ARRAYED IN KINGLY ROBES. 

This then was Kabrega, who had been described to me as a cowardly, 
treacherous, beggarly drunkard. The graceful folds of a piece of fine sal- 
mon colored bark cloth cpvered his body up to the breast, above which it 
3 



84 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

was perfectly bare, except the left shoulder, over which was thrown, like 
a plaid, a piece of darker colored bark cloth. Two burnt scars were visible 
on the temples of his well-formed smoothly shorn head, which showed 
that he belonged to the tribe of the Wanyoro ; his four lower front teeth 
also were missing, as is the case in all Wanyoro, and the upper front teeth 
projected somewhat and were brilliantly white. The lower front teeth, 
sometimes the next one on each side, are always removed from boys and 
girls as soon as they arrive at maturity. They are forced out with a broad 
piece of iron used as a lever. 

A necklace of hairs from a giraffe's tail, upon the middle of which was 
strung a single blue glass bead, encircled his neck. A root amulet and 
an iron bracelet were the only ornaments on his strong muscular arm ; his 
hands were small and well kept. He is strikingly fair, probably on ac- 
count of his pure Wahuma blood. He made upon the whole a very favor- 
able impression on me, but there was a decided voluptuous expression on 
his face. His attendants, about fifty in number, were clothed in skins and 
bark clothes, and amongst them was his brother, an ugly black fellow. 

After presenting him with my credentials, to which I added a few words, 
a very lively conversation sprang up between us. Kabrega speaks the 
Soudan Arabic fluently. He requested me, however, although I speak 
Kinyoro, to talk to him in Arabic, and to permit my words to be trans- 
lated by his interpreter, " so that his people could understand them." I 
next gave him the presents that I had brought with me, and much en- 
joyed his pleasure in receiving them. He paid especial attention to a few 
pieces of scented soap. My soldier had a small revolver in his girdle ; 
Kabrega requested permission to view it, and comprehended at once its 
mechanism. He took it to pieces, put it together again, and then gave it 
back to me. He then asked me to inform him how I had enjoyed myself 
last year in Uganda, and what I had seen there, and he was highly amused 
with my description of the court ceremonials which obtain in that 
country. Threatening rain brought our conference to an end before either 
wished its conclusion. He promised, however, that he would soon call me 
again into his presence, and then took leave of me in a thoroughly dignified 
manner. 

HOW THE KING TREATED HIS GUEST. 

The next day I was again called to the king, whom I found surrounded 
by ten or twelve persons. Kabrega very readily consented to my propo- 
sition that some of his people should go with me or rather be sent to 
Khartoum, to pay a visit to the Governor-General, Gordon Pasha. My 
watch caused much astonishment, and I was requested to send him aloud 
ticking watch after my return home. I certainly cannot charge Kabrega 
with begging ; on the contrary, he sent me daily, in the most hospitable 
manner, stores of corn and meal, which, although they were only intended 
to supply the wants of one day, could easily have been made to last us 
for a fortnight. 

I received visits daily from Kabrega's chiefs, amongst whom Katagrua 
and Melindua were two really pleasant, sensible men. The former was the 
only gentleman at Kabrega's court ; not once did he request of me a 
single thing, and he received with signs of pleasure and the greatest grati- 
tude the little presents I was able to make him. I am indebted to both 
these men for much valuable information concerning the life and customs 
of Unyoro. 



I 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 35 

On the 30th of September I was just preparing to take a walk when I 
was called to Kabrega, whom I found sitting on his divan, enveloped in 
a bark cloth of a beautiful pattern. People from Karagwa had arrived, 
bringing with them arms and ammunition to be exchanged for ivory and 
slaves, and Kabrega wished to show his white guest to them. I had taken 
with me Speke's book in order to astonish the king ; and as I showed him 
his father, Kamrasi, in it, as well as other pictures, especially the one of 
the dwarf, Kimenya, who died several years ago, the pleasure of those 
present knew no bounds. Two small men, but certainly not dwarfs, were 
immediately led before me, one of whom, a regular humpback, caused 
much laughter. Humpbacked people, it seems, are not uncommon here. 
The conversation turned to the subject of white and colored persons, and, 
in order to prove that light colored persons also exist here, a lahk^' young 
man was introduced to me, who was distinguished by the yellow ground 
color of his skin. He was offered to me as a present, but was declined 
with thanks. 

WHERE THE ALBINOS COME FROM. 

The production of white children (Albinos) by black parents is certainly 
not uncommon. In this country brothers marry their sisters without 
producing Albinos. They are supposed to bring with them misfortune, 
and therefore are not considered to be of equal birth with their brothers 
and sisters. 

As on the 8th of October Kabrega sent me supplies, I called to thank 
him, and was taken to his private house, where I, for the first time, found 
him clothed in Arab dress, and I chatted with him in Arabic. 

As soon as the new moon becomes visible she is greeted by the firing 
of guns. Horns and flutes form a lively if not a very harmonious con- 
cert, the musicians marching up and down, either upon their heels or only 
on their toes, bending at the same time their bodies backwards and for- 
wards. Kabrega himself is at this time occupied in preparing his magic 
powders, his amulets and talismans, and no doubt also dabbles a little in 
the art of divination, as is the custom with all Wahuma chiefs during the 
first days of the new moon. 

Early on the 9th of October, in celebration of the feast of Ramadan- 
Bairam, Kabrega sent me a present of an ox. As, for a wonder, the 
weather permitted me to get about, I climbed the towering mountain 
which was near our camp. A foot-path, well worn by the herds, leads 
up to the highest peak, the base of which is hidden by grass and reeds. 
The ascent from here is very difficult, in many places hardly possible 
except by crawling. So steep indeed is the side of the mountain that 
only here and there a tree with willow-like leaves is able to take root. 
Short turf covers the thin earth which is bedded upon granite, except in ' 
some places where one finds quartz in small pieces. The higher one 
climbs the scantier becomes the vegetation, until upon the summit itself, 
which I reached after three-quarters of an hour's climb, there are only 
four or five stunted trees amidst blocks of rocks and structures of ants. 

KABREGA WAS NOT A THIEF. 

Two Zanzibar merchants arrived here from Karagwa. Both were freed 
slaves, who wished to buy ivory by order of their masters; it is abundant 



36 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

and very cheap. They offered in exchange cloth, guns, powder, percus- 
sion-caps, copper and brass. Near midday on the loth of October a 
company of Waganda also arrived to trade. Their chief, Mbazi, an old 
acquaintance of mine, sought me out at once, and informed me that 
King Mtesa had sent people to Mr,uli to bring me from that place. 

I received letters the next day saying that 150 Waganda had arrived in 
Mruli, but as I was. not there, they had returned to Uganda. At the same 
time I received both English and Arabic letters from Mtesa, inviting me 
to come, but "to bring no soldiers with me." I was told, too, that some 
of my things, which I had intended to present to Kabrega, had been for- 
warded, but they had been taken from the porters by Kabrega's people. 
I, of course, claimed them back at once, upon which Kabrega sent me 
word that I need not trouble about them, for he himself was the aggrieved 
party, and would immediately take steps for, their recovery. 

Two days after, the messengers whom Kabrega had sent to find them 
returned and laid the unopened bundle at my feet. According to their 
account, all the inhabitants of the village had fled and deposited the 
goods in the house of a neighboring chief, who had delivered them up to 
them. I sent at once to Kabrega to thank him, and moreover to request 
an audience, when I intended to ask for permission to depart. 

This interview took place on the 15th. My official business was 
brought to an end to our mutual satisfaction. I shall always remember 
with pleasure the days I spent here. As a parting gift I presented 
Kabrega with a richly gilded sabre, which very much delighted him. I 
could therefore anticipate being able to start on my return journey in a 
week, if no unforeseen delays occurred. Kabrega gave me his " dead " 
watch for me to get repaired in Khartoum, and also requested me to send 
him an Arab clerk. 

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE KING. 
ff 

To judge by the sound of the Uganda drums, the Waganda were 
really received at court on the 19th of October, after waiting nine days. 
This seemed to be the day for paying tributes ; at' least the quantity of 
packets and bales lying before Kabrega's divan, as well as piles of new 
bark cloth, and the number of people who had collected together, proved 
that a great reception was taking place. The king sent some loads of 
meal for our journey. Several days later I received in addition to this 
six oxen. They were the hornless kind, having small humps. 

On the 2 2d of October I was again called to Kabrega. He was carrying 
on a very animated conversation with a number of people who had col- 
lected together, among whom I notiped the Waganda; but when I 
arrived the whole party was dismissed, and I was in the first place required 
to show him my revolver. After he had examined it he asked me to send 
him some like it. I had my farewell audience the next day, and can state 
with satisfaction that the wish on both sides to meet again was very 
cordial. 

Having received two big elephants' tusks as a parting gift from Ka- 
brega, we began the return march on the 25th of October, by the same 
road that had brought us here. A volley of guns was fired from Ka- 
brega's headquarters in honor of the parting guest. 

After a difficult and tedious march we reached Kitongali, where we 
sheltered in some huts, dried ourselves by a blazing fire, and did not con- 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 37 

tinue our journey until midday. When we resumed our march, after 
wading through much mud and water, we got back to the old road, and 
reached Kimanya late in the afternoon. The huts we had previously 
occupied had been burnt down by the inhabitants, because I, a white 
man, had slept in them. Yet I received a friendly welcome from 
Vakumba, and was even able to procure a goat. 

EMIN SAVES A SAVAGE WOMAN'S LIFE. 

Kabrega had sent Matongali Matebere to look after my porters, and 
my comfort, but he took little trouble about these matters. It was already 
nine o'clock on the 27th of October, and not a single porter was to be" 
seen. I therefore sent to him, but received neither answer nor porters. 
So I gave the order to start, and left him behind with all my traps, for 
which I held him responsible to his master; he promised to follow me 
soon. Passing by a magnificent sycamore, the hanging roots of which 
had grown into nine stems, we went on up and down hill, through tall 
grass, till we rested a while beside a pool that had been made for watering 
Kabrega's cattle. 

This continual struggle with thorns and grasses had thoroughly tired 
us out, so we were very thankful soon after to reach a few miserable huts, 
where we could take shelter from the torrents of rain that began to pour 
down upon us. Only the most useless of my loads had yet arrived, while 
my bedding and cooking apparatus remained behind, so I was obliged to 
go to bed supperless, while the leaky hut, with its mosquitoes, and water 
pouring in on all sides, proved no paradise, and I preferred sleeping on a 
bullock's hide in the open air. But in the morning it became desperately 
cold, and when the sun rose we were all ready to start at once, although 
our things were only arriving in driblets. This place was called Btobe, 
and was inhabited by only one family, consisting of one man, eight women, 
two children, and a dog. 

A short journey through tall grass brought me to Londu, which we 
left a little to one side, to halt half an hour's march beyond it, in Kijiveka, 
where some good huts were at once placed at our disposal, and where 
we were given some sweet potatoes, which we relished much after our 
thirty-six hours' fast. The Madundi, who inhabit this district, are of a 
very dark color, and speak a language quite different from that of the 
Wanyoro. It strikes one particularly by its humming tones and jerky syl- 
lables. These people are said to have originally come from beyond the 
Albert Lake, and they still practice circumcision. Their houses differ 
from the "bee-hives " of Unyoro, in the construction of their reed walls 
and porches. Some of the children are swag -bellied, a result of irregular 
nourishment, to-day a great deal, to-morrow nothing. The women wear 
pretty striped aprons ; all smoke pipes with enormous long reed stems. 

One woman, young, but with a child in her arms, was accused by her 
husband of infidelity. She was brought before the chief, and prostrated 
herself at his feet, begging for mercy. The chief laughed at her apparent 
misery, and motioned to one of his attendants, who was armed with a 
heavy knob-kerri or club, to beat out her brains. 

The murderous club was poised in mid-air, and about to descend on 
the defenceless woman's head, when Emin interfered and begged for her 
life. At this the chief laughed, and remarking that one woman's life was 
nothing ordered her to rise. 



38 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 



COUNTRY OF THE WANYORO. 

EMIN PASHA'S DESCRIPTION OF THE HABITS AND MAN- 
NERS OF THIS WONDERFUL PEOPLE. 

The Wanyoro, though they do not despise the flesh of a cow that has 

died a natural death, are very clean and particular in their eating and in 

I their persons. They will never eat on the bare ground ; even on a journey 

I they carry with them a little mat for a table cloth, but strange to say, 

they do not wash their cooking pots after using them. Notwithstanding 

.the cleanly habits of the people, there unfortunately exists a quantity of 

vermin, which especially infest the bark cloth. The custom therefore 

prevails of fumigating the cloth every two or three days with smoke from 

pieces of dried papyrus-stalks stripped of their bark. 

The thick and peculiarly pungent smoke is said to drive away parasites, 
and at the same time imparts to the material a perfume perceptible at 
some distance. As for scents, however, for rubbing on the body, a kind 
of sweet smelling, very compact gray clay is used, and a species of touch- 
wood, which smells like musk. The clay is brought from the south, and 
is sold at a high price. The body is always clean shaven, the head only 
as a sign of mourning. 

The Wanyoro cut their finger nails in the form of a triangle, the vertex 
of the triangle being in the middle of the nail. All cuttings of the hair 
and nails are carefully stored under the bed, and afterwards strewn about 
amongst the tall grass. 

Brother, sister, brother-in-law, and son-in-law, are the recognized 
grades of relationship. I have never noticed any intimate connection 
between more distant relations. 

THEY ARE VEGETARIANS. 

The food of the Wanyoro consists principally of vegetables, bananas, 
sweet potatoes, gourds, purslane, etc. All these are made into a porridge 
with ground sesame seed, except bananas, which are plucked before they 
are ripe and roasted. Ripe bananas are seldom eaten ; they are used to 
make an intoxicating drink. 

When meat is to be had it is eaten even if very old ; the bones are 
broken in pieces and boiled with the meat, and then the marrow is eaten, 
but it is much disliked if raw. Marrow, with ants and sesame, is made 
into a dish. Milk is drunk fresh and unboiled. Antelopes are a favorite 
food, while elephant's flesh is never eaten, and hippopotamus meat is 
shunned, as it is thought to produce skin disease. Many of the Wanyoro 
(in the lake district) are industrious fishers, and eat fish with great gusto; 
but others entirely avoid and despise it, as well as fowls and eggs. 

All the Wanyoro eat salt. Fire is produced by holding a stick ver- 
tically in a shallow hollow made in another stick lying horizontally, and 
twirling it quickly round, the spark is caught in hay or old bark cloth. 
This process, however, demands a great deal of skill. The honey of wild 
bees is much liked ; it is eaten alone or with porridge. 

The habit of eating earth is practiced as a remedy for a disease to 
which both sexes are liable. The kind of earth most liked is that with 
which the ants are in the habit of arching over their passages on the 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 41 

trunks of trees, but ordinary earth is not despised. This practice, if long 
continued, is said to cause discoloration of the skin and hair, as well as 
general emaciation and finally death. 

Throughout Unyoro and Uganda the women are the cooks ; but the 
chiefs employ men cooks, with whom they have made blood relation- 
ship, and have separate kitchens for the men and woman. The great 
chiefs always eat alone, and no one may touch or look at the dishes pre- 
pared for them. Inferior chiefs often invite their favorites to their table, and 
whenever a crumb happens to fall to the ground from the chief's handj 
these men snatch it up at once and swallow it in homage to their lord. 

Women eat in a separate place and after the men have finished. It is 
considered a particular sign of favor when a woman is invited by her 
husband to eat with him, but the Wawitu women who spring from ruling 
families are privileged in this respect, for they always eat with their 
husbands. The boys eat with the women. 

Meat is preferred cooked with vegetables, especially unripe bananas. 
The pots used for cooking are round and exactly similar to the water 
vessels but smaller. The food when ready is poured into boat-shaped 
dishes standing on feet, which are placed on a mat ; the company gather 
round them and eat with their hands ; spoons, however, cut out of gourd- 
shells are in use. 

There are altogether three meals in the day. After eating, in which 
the Wanyoro are moderate, a strip of wet banana bark is used to wipe 
the hands. The fireplace used for cooking is often situated in a small 
compartment walled off by reeds. In Uganda they have separate huts for 
cooking. The fireplace consists of five stones so placed that the longest 
and broadest is in the middle, and the others stand two in a line to the 
right and left of it, so that several vessels can be put on the fire at once. 

For storing corn clean holes are used. Fish is split open, cleaned and 
dried over a smoky fire. This is the method of curing on both lakes. 

WHAT THE BARBARIANS DRINK. 

The drinks used in Unyoro are sandi and mwenge. Sandi is the juice 
of ripe bananas, freshly pressed out, and little if at all fermented. It is a 
pleasant drink, resembling wine, and slightly sparkling, and is more 
especially affected by the ladies ; when it comes into the market at all it 
is rather dear. Mwenge is prepared by mashing bananas ripened arti- 
ficially over a fire or underground, adding water and roasted durrah and 
allowing the liquor to stand until it has become highly fermented. This 
beverage is sour and very intoxicating. Corn is not malted here. The 
use of mwenge is so universal in Unyoro, and particularly in Uganda, 
that I believe many people never drink water. The Wanyoro take 
enormous quantities of it, and even little children drink it with delight. 
Yet I have never seen drunken men here. 

Coffee-drinking is unknown, though the tree grows in the south, and 
berries are exported in large quantities from Uganda to the north. The 
sugar-cane, which is cultivated everywhere, is eaten but not made into 
sugar. 

It is remarkable how proud the wives of the chiefs in this country are. 
To begin with they do no cooking ; field work and water carrying are 
left to the servants, and the mistresses sit on their mats and do nothing 
but smoke and talk. For clothing they affect fine leather imported from 



42 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

Uganda, covered with material made from bark, and adorn themselves 
with rings of brass and copper, strings of pearls round the neck and waist, 
sometimes also with anklets. The rings, also, often cover two-thirds of 
the forearm, I have seen cuts or scars as ornaments, but only on women 
from the south-western districts. 

The food of the people varies extremely according to their rank, whereas 
milk is liked by all classes, and the fat wives of Kabrega and the 
greater chiefs are only permitted to live on milk, except twice a week salt 
porridge mixed with broth, and sometimes a handful of raw salt. The 
lower classes, unless they are prevented by personal dislike or fear, eat 
whatever their limited agriculture and the animal world afford them. Ka- 
brega himself eats bananas and beef only, and drinks milk and mwenge. 

His cook, as are all his body servants, is united to him in blood brother- 
hood. To perform this ceremony a slight incision is made with a razor 
above the fifth rib on the right side. Coffee berries are soaked in the 
blood, and are exchanged and eaten by those partaking in the rite. The 
covenant thus made lasts for life. The parties to it never desert one 
another in danger, and frequent the houses and converse with each other's 
wives without constraint or suspicion. A case of breach of faith has never 
been known. , 

Among the narcotics used tobacco, which is much smoked by both 
sexes, takes the first place. The tobaccos from Nkole and the highlands 
of Uganda are considered the best. The pipe bowls are large, spherical, 
and strong, and are attached to long stems, which in Londu are formed 
of two pieces tied together with skin, and are as much as five feet long. 
Every one has his own pipe, but when he happens not to have it with him 
he takes a few whiffs from his neighbor's. The larger the bowl of the 
pipe the greater the gentleman who uses it ; I have seen bowls which 
would easily hold a pound of tobacco ; they are half filled with glowing 
embers and half with tobacco. The most singular pipes I have yet seen 
are those used by Unyoro magicians ; a huge twin bowl, ornamented all 
over with short conical spikes, is fastened to a short heavy stem. 

THEY CHEW COFFEE BERRIES. 

In addition to tobacco, coffee chewing is also indulged in in Unyoro 
and Uganda. The coffee tree grows in the southern parts of both coun- 
tries ; the pods are gathered when still green, dipped in hot water and 
dried in the sun, and then sold and consumed without further preparation. 
Many persons, however, partially roast the pods. The natives say that a 
couple of coffee berries will drive away hunger, and it is customary among 
the better classes to offer each other a few coffee berries. 

My attention was repeatedly aroused in the evening by a drumming, 
rapping noise that continued far into the night. It was produced by the 
collectors of ants, who light a fire beside the ant hills and imagine that 
they induce the male ants to swarm out more rapidly by beating pieces of 
wood together. These insects are eaten raw or roasted. 

The negro's mind is not adapted for taming wild animals. Here and 
there one comes across a domesticated wild cat, or perhaps a house cat 
from the north. The dogs are of medium size, with slightly pointed muz- 
zles ; they carry their rather long short-haired tails erect, are lop-eared, 
long-bodied, lean, and usually of a buff color, 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 43 

WILD SPORTS IN UNYORO. 

Hunting parties often take place. The man who throws the first spear 
at an animal receives a forefoot if it is killed. The division of the booty is 
effected by general agreement. If the game runs on to ground belonging 
to another man, and dies there, the owner receives the right forefoot. If 
a leopard or lion is killed near the king's dwelling the whole animal is 
carried to him ; if the place where the animal is slain is too far off only 
the skin is brought to the king. When the people kill one of these 
animals on foreign soil the skin belongs to the king of the country. One 
tusk of all elephants slain belongs by right to the king, the other may be 
kept by the hunter, but the king usually gives him a girl in exchange. 

The huts of Kabrega's capital are grouped in threes and fours, sur- 
rounded by straw fences, and hidden away in banana woods and in de- 
pressions of the ground, but being scattered about in large groups they 
•cover a great extent of ground ; there may be, perhaps, more than a thou- 
sand of them. Most of them have two rooms and high doors, with 
porches. 

FOLLOWERS OF TUBAL CAIN. 

Some five or six smithies are scattered about the village, each employ- 
ing four or five workmen. A large, flat stone, with a smooth, even sur- 
face, driven into the ground, serves as an anvil ; a solid piece of iron, one 
•end of which is beaten into the form of a handle, does service as a hammer. 
There are two gourd bowls filled with water to temper the iron, some 
small pitchers for melting copper and brass, and a contrivance made of 
wood for wire-drawing. Native iron, copper and brass are worked into 
spear-heads, knives, razors, arm and leg rings, and necklaces, but the 
workmanship is by no means superior. Brass and copper come from Zan- 
zibar through Uganda. The smithies are also meeting places for all 
lovers of gossip. Guns are repaired by Waganda smiths, who come here 
periodically, but they are very exorbitant ; for example, they demand a 
female slave in exchange for. a gun. 

The preparation of cow-hide for clothing is very simple. The hide is 
tightly stretched on level ground by a large number of small pegs, and 
then scraped with knives until all bits of flesh are removed ; then it is 
dried, and rendered pliant by rubbing in butter. Every fall of rain makes 
the hide stiff again, and then fresh rubbings are necessary. That this pro- 
cess is not exactly agreeable to the smell is evident. Every one wears 
hides and bark cloths ; men prefer cow-hides, women goat's-hides, four 
(Of which sewn together make a dress. Cloth is also made here from bark 
,of various kinds of fig trees, which are planted in banana groves. The 
finer, handsomer pieces, those in particular with black patterns, which 
only Kabrega wears, come only from Uganda, where the people excel in 
the manufacture of these goods. ^ 

SHE WAS A FAMOUS WITCH. 

I saw an elderly woman, wearing a fantastic head-dress of feathers and 
skins, sitting in an isolated hut ; I was told that she was a very famous 
witch ; she would not, however, enter into conversation, but went on 
patching up her torn dress, perfectly unconcerned. 

When two families are on friendly terms, and wish to make a match 



44 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

between their children, the two fathers, in the first place, visit each other 
twice or thrice to drink mwenge^ and on such occasions many guests are 
invited. Then the bride's father goes to the father of the bridegroom, and 
offers him his daughter, " for friendship's sake." 

After this the price of the bride is discussed and fixed, and a great feast 
follows, to which both parties contribute. A few days after the stipulated 
sum has been paid, the bride is fetched in the midst of a large procession, 
and amidst singing, dancing, and much drinking of mwenge, the way is 
taken to the bridegroom's house where she is handed over to the bride- 
groom, and the whole company spend the ni.ght in singing, dancing and 
drinking. 

The father of the bride receives for himself and his people the two hind 
quarters of the ox slaughtered on this occasion by the bridegroom's 
father. On the third day after the completion of the marriage, the whole 
village assembles to pad the hut of the newly wedded couple with hay^ 
when fresh libations follow. On the sixth day after the wedding, the 
young wife visits her parents, and during this visit of three or four days' 
duration, the husband keeps aloof. Fresh drinks, given by the father of 
the bride, bring the ceremonies to a conclusion. The young wife then 
returns to her house, and if her husband is in good circumstances, passes 
her time in smoking, coffee-chewing, idling and paying visits. 

BUYING A WIFE ON THE INSTALMENT PLAN. 

If a man marries, and his wife falls ill or dies during a visit to her 
father's house, the husband either demands a wife — a sister of the de- 
ceased — in compensation, or receives two cows. There are instances of 
a man putting his wife away and afterwards taking her back again, a cow 
being killed on her return. When a poor man is unable to procure the 
cattle required for his marriage at once, he may, by agreement with the 
bride's father, pay them by instalments ; the children, however, born in 
the meantime belong to the wife's father, and each of them must be re- 
deemed with a cow. / 

Should the head of the house die without children, his brother inherits 
everything, even the wives ; if there are several brothers the younger ones 
receive small shares in goods and wives, according to the good pleasure 
of the eldest, who is the chief heir. When there are no brothers the chief 
of the tribe inherits. But when there are sons the eldest inherits all that 
is left by his father, the wives included, who, with the exception of his 
own mother, become his wives. The younger sons receive two women, 
two cows, and as much of the other property as the principal heir will 
give them. Wives and daughters have no share in the inheritance under 
any circumstances. If, at the death of the head of the house, there is a 
daughter left under age, the principal heir brings her up and marries her. 
In default of male relations the chief of the tribe fills their place, and 
usually takes such girls into his harem. 

HOW THEY PUNISH CRIME. 

Theft is punished in Unyoro by confiscation of cattle or women for the 
benefit of the person robbed. When a man is killed, the nearest relatives 
of the murdered man have the right to seize the murderer and kill him 
with a spear, and they receive beside a cow from the family of the mur- 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 45 

derer. But should the murderer escape and they apply to the chief of 
the tribe to procure the punishment of the guilty man, the chief receives 
from them nine cows and three sheep or goats as his due, in return for 
which he causes the murderer to be seized and killed, and exacts payment 
of the cow. 

Adultery, provided the injured man surprises the offender, is atoned for 
by the fine of four cows. If the chief is called upon to interfere he re- 
ceives a cow. The guilty wife is beaten, and she may also be divorced, 
in which case a very curious ceremony takes place. 

The injured husband cuts a piece of bark in two, half of which he keeps 
himself, and the other half is sent with the wife to her father. When the 
cows formerly paid as the price of the bride are restored, this piece is re- 
turned to the husband, who then burns both pieces. Wives are seldom 
put away because they are childless, and the man is always blamed who 
does it. 

I have myself seen a curious punishment. A man tied a string round 
his wife's neck and fastened her to a tree, where she had to remain the 
whole night ; and this because she had told him a lie. Punishment con- 
sists, for the most part, in the confiscation of women and cows ; a sen- 
tence of death is but seldom decreed by the king, for as Kabrega very 
justly observed to me, " a dead man pays no taxes." Here, as in Uganda, 
the bodies of those who are put to death may not be buried, but are 
thrown into tall grass. 



MORE THAN ONE HUSBAND. 

THE KING'S STRANGE CATTLE— SUPERSTITIONS OF THE 
UNYORO— A PLURALITY OF HUSBANDS. 

The only place in the Upper Nile district where I have seen smooth, 
fat cattle, is Kabrega's capital. They pass by to the watering place every 
afternoon, about 1500 in number, most of them humpless, with enor- 
mously long horns. It is a pleasure to see the stately animals climb the 
steep mountain like goats. Most of them are gray, but some are entirely 
light brown. 

The cows which supply milk for Kabrega's personal consumption are 
kept quite separate ; they are milked in his presence every morning, and 
then go to pasture, escorted by a man and a boy. The boy goes before 
them crying loudly " The king's cattle," and every one who happens to 
be near must withdraw as quickly as possible, if he does not wish to be 
killed. When I asked the reason I was answered, there were people 
whose look could turn milk into blood. In accordance with the universal 
Wahuma custom, the king possesses all the wives of his deceased father. 

THE HOME OF SUPERSTITION. 

Should the king die, all the tutors of the princes at once assemble and 
determine which of the sons of the dead ruler is the best and fittest to 
become his successor. Naturally the decision is seldom unanimous, but 
parties are formed, and war breaks out and continues until one of the 



46 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION 

princes overcomes his rivals, and gains possession of the throne,, standfngj^ 
in the death hut of his father, whereupon his authority is recognized. 
Then his brothers and nearest relatives are killed, with few exceptions, 
for custom so demands. In Uganda they are burned. The belief in 
amulets and magic, as well as in the possibility of making people ill, or 
even causing their death by means of charms and incantations, is widely 
diffused in Unyoro and Uganda. No trace is to be found of the idea of 
a future life. In both countries the women are buried in the court of the 
house they have occupied, to the right hand side of the door, the men to 
the left of it. The graves are horizontal, and three to- fo-ur feet deep. 
The corpse lies on the right side, as is usual in sleep. The Wanyoro,, 
however, who live on the Lake Albert, bury their dead, men or women^ 
in the middle of the court yard, and erect above the grave a miniature 
hut, in which tobacco, pipes, bananas, etc., are deposited. Young chil- 
dren are everywhere buried in the garden which adjoins each house. 

Africa seems to be the original home of superstition. If an owl 
screeches near the house, the master dies. If a hyena or jackaH repeat- 
edly approaches the house, misfortune is at hand ; whem the rhinoceros 
bird croaks, rain may be looked for. If a wagtail sings ora the threshold,, 
guests or presents arrive. If a man kills wagtails in the house,, fire breaks 
out in it. If a wagtail forsakes its nest made in the house, misfortune is 
near. Vultures and ravens are chief among the birds, and their slaughter 
causes illness. If a vulture alights on the top of a poor man's house, he 
will receive rich gifts and presents. A man who wears a piece of the 
hide of the white rhinoceros on the body, cannot be wounded. If a 
woman is the first to enter the house in the morning, it is a good sign ; if 
a man, it is bad. If on moving from one house to another, anything is 
broken, or a woman falls by the way, the family returns to the house it 
has just left. If on starting for a campaign, a buffalo runs across the 
path, or a guinea fowl flies up before the warrior, it portends the death 
of many men, and every one turns back. The bat which flies into the 
house brings news. The Wanyoro spit three times whenever they see a 
shooting star. The Unyoro believe that elephants and chimpanzees were 
once men, and that the dog, too, was gifted with speech, but spoke only 
to his master. They account for the elephant in this way. 

ORIGIN OF THE ELEPHANT AND CHIMPANZEE. ,,.^ 

In ancient times a man had an honest son, but he himself was violent 
and had taken many cattle from his neighbors. Once upon a time he 
ordered his son to go and occupy a neighbor's house ; if he did not do , 
so he threatened to kill him. The son went and slept in the house, but j 
found in the early morning that the people in it had fled. He durst 
not return home, whilst by himself he would have starved. So he 
prayed the " Great Magician " to rescue him, and was thereupon, to- 
gether with the house, turned into an elephant. 

About the chimpanzee they say that an honest man had an only 
daughter, and she was wooed by a neighbor for his son, who had turned 
out badly. The young couple lived happily for a short time, but when 
the young wife absented herself occasionally from the house to visit her 
parents her husband reproached her with availing herself of this excuse 
to go after other men. Each day he treated her worse, so she fled, and 
returned to her father, to whom she related her misfortune, and he, angry 




The animal throwing up its head sent him and his rifle floating into the air."- 

Page 93. 
(48) 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 49 

at the stain that had fallen on his own and his daughter's honor, killed 
himself. At this moment the son-in-law arrived, and was transformed 
by the " Great Magician " into a chimpanzee. But the wife, who would 
not desert him in spite of all that had happened, followed him, and from 
them are sprung the chimpanzees, who still talk among themselves like 
men and have a fondness for women. 



WOMEN OF MANY HUSBANDS. 

Much has been written by different authors about the practice in Africa 
of polygamy, or having more than one wife, but little has been said of 
women who have several husbands apiece. It is only recently in fact that 
much has been learned of this peculiar phase of African life. The reason 
is that the tribes which practice polyandry, as it is called, are for the most 
part those that are the most preyed upon by stronger tribes ; and so they 
bury themselves away from those who would be the most likely to attack 
them, keeping into the depths of the forests, far away from caravan 
routes, and therefore they have less frequently been met with by ex- 
plorers. It does not seem so very strange after all that the practice of 
polyandry, almost forced upon some unfortunate people by remarkable 
circumstances, has become an established custom. This is the way it 
usually originates : A little tribe attacked by enemies, or what is to them 
far worse, by slave dealers, loses half and sometimes nearly all its women, 
who are dragged away into captivity. The tribe has no relations with 
its neighbors that enable it soon to restore the due proportion of the 
sexes, and as a result the women who are left to them become the prop- 
erty of all the men. The custom thus originating in violence becomes 
in time one of the tribal institutions. 

The numerous tribes that practice polyandry are almost invariably 
agricultural and peaceable. It is remarkable how soon the custom comes 
to be regarded as praiseworthy. It surprises even many native Africans 
to visit these villages and to find there that only those women who are 
free to all men are regarded as worthy of respect. The woman who 
through choice or restraint has only a single male companion is looked 
upon as disgraced, a fit object for invective, scorn and taunts. 

The children in these villages are taught to call every man father and 
every woman mother, and as the little ones are regarded as common 
property it is sometimes difficult after a few years to tell who their 
mothers are. 

All explorers agree that among the polygamous Africans adultery is 
severely punished. It is a remarkable fact, however, that before mar- 
riage both sexes have the utmost freedom. So far as the young people 
are concerned there is license without restraint. No young man who 
takes one of these girls for his wife has any sentiment of jealousy for 
what is past and gone. The girls who have the largest circle of admirers 
in their days of freedom are most sought after as wives, and the fact that 
a young lady has a great many lovers only proclaims her merits. After 
marriage, however, strict fidelity is demanded of the wife. 

The having a number of wives, or polygamy, is most largely practiced 
among warlike people, who capture many women from their enemies, 
and among those natives who have been brought up in close contact 
with the Arabs. The fact that a man has many wives does not indicate 
by any means that he is a great sensualist. Hundreds of chiefs who sup- 
4 



60 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

port harems have in view most of all the idea that a large number of 
wives is necessary to the dignity of their rank and fortune, and so old 
and decrepit chiefs keep on adding to their harems until they have fifty 
or sixty wives. 

Many mothers show the greatest tenderness for their children. A 
while before the white station at Karema was abandoned about forty 
women and children, who were rescued from slave-dealers, were brought* 
to the station. The poor creatures had suffered much, and were per- 
fectly naked until they were provided with cotton garments, which aston- 
ished and delighted them. These poor women, who had lost their 
homes, seemed to care to live only for their children, and the afifection 
they lavished upon their offspring was a touching spectacle. 

WOMEN AT A DISCOUNT. 

Throughout Central Africa, however, the women outnumber the men 
three or four to one, the men being killed off in the wars and forays that 
are constantly being made by one tribe on another and by Arab slave- 
traders on all. The women are almost invariably slaves. Usually there 
are not more than three or four free women in a village. The price of 
women is less than the price of pigs or goats. There was until recently 
one district ruled by a woman and there that sex was supreme. Within 
the last few years, however, that tribe was exterminated, and now the 
degradation of women all over Central Africa is universal. 



STANLEY TO THE RESCUE. 

DIFFICULTIES OF EMIN'S RULE— MURDER OF GENERAL 
GORDON— STANLEY'S PERILOUS ROUTE. 

It is difficult to describe in a few words the condition of the Equatorial 
Province when, in 1878, Emin Pasha accepted the post of Goyernor. The 
population consisted of numerous and varied tribes, who had suffered 
greatly from the cruelty of the rulers who had succeeded the wise and 
good General Gordon. There were also a number of former slave traders ; 
the officials were for the most part bad men, who had been banished from 
Egypt, and, after undergoing their sentences, had been taken into Govern- 
ment employ. By the end of 1872 he had the satisfaction of being able 
to report that his province was in a state of peace and contentment. He 
had got rid of nearly all the Egyptian soldiers, replacing them by natives, 
whom he had trained to arms. He had added large districts to his prov- 
ince, not by the use of the sword, but by personal negotiation with native 
chiefs. To all this must be added the cultivation of cotton, indigo, coffee, 
and rice, the establishment of a weekly post through his dominions, the 
rebuilding of nearly all his stations, the construction of better and more 
permanent roads, the introduction of camels, and the transportation of 
goods by oxen ; and last, but not least, he was able to show in that year 
a net profit of $40,000, where there had formerly been a deficit of $160,- 
000 a year. His whole heart seemed to be centred in the welfare of his 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 61 

people and the advancement of science, and no idea of fame apf)eared to 
enter his mind. 

DEATH OF GENERAL GORDON. 

General Gordon had been induced to go to Khartoum by the English 
Government to endeavor to restore order. He was not supported by a 
sufficient military force, however, and while a relief expedition Was crawl- 
ing slowly up the Nile his garrison rebelled and murdered him, giving 
the city and the Soudan wholly to the Mahdi. This left Emin and his 
province, south of the Soudan, in the greatest danger, in fact wholly to the 
mercy of the Arabs. For greater safety Emin removed from Lado to 
another station, named Wadelai, whence he sent the following account of 
his thrilling adventures : 

On April ist the civil and military officers in Lado handed i^e a docu- 
ment in which they petitioned that all the stations in the south should be 
given up, and that we should restrict ourselves to the line fr6m Lado to 
Kiri. We would then be confined to the most barren part of the prov- 
ince, and consequently throw ourselves into the jaws of famine, besides 
cutting ourselves ofif from the only way of retreat which would at last be 
open to us. Unfortunate as this was, it was no use to refuse, so I had to 
give at least a seeming consent, and issue the orders necessary. On the 
24th of April it was decided to send the women arid children to the south, 
and that the different stations should be occupied by the soldier^ ^nly, and, 
if necessary, given up, so that we can concentrate all our strength in the 
south if need be. The requisite orders were issued irnmediatefy ; three 
companies remained in Lado, under the command of MajOr Ri'han Aga, 
besides which only myself and three clerks were l6ft. I shalPY^n^ai'h with 
rny people until I see perfectly clear that both their ftiture and' the ftrture 
of our country are safe. I have passed twelve year^ 6f my Kle her^, and 
would it be right of me to desert my post as soon as tlie 6pipotttift'\ty for 
escape presented itself? The work that Gordon paid for with' his blood 
I will strive to carry on, if not with his energy arid geriitis still according 
to his intention and his spirit. I remain here, the last and only i*epresen- 
tative of Gordon's staff. It therefore falls to me, and is my bOtrtiden duty, 
to follow up the road he showed us. Sooner or later a bright fufuf^ must 
dawn for these countries ; sooner or lat^r these people will be drawn into 
the circle of swift advancing civilization. For twelve long years: T have 
striven and toiled and sown the seeds for future harvests. Shlafll I now 
give up the work because a way may soon open to the eOast ? Never ! 

STANLEY AGAIN IN AFRICA. 

The king of the Belgians resolved in December, 1886, to send a relief 
expedition to Emin Pasha. Only a few days previous to this Stanley had 
arrived in New York after an absence of thirteen years. He was imme- 
diately summoned by the king of Belgium to take command. He girded 
himself again for a journey into the wilds of Africa and resolved to pro- 
ceed by way of the Congo. He proceeded to England and thence to 
Cairo, where he made all needful arrangements for hi^ joufn^y with the 
Egyptian Government. It was reported that he intended tO seize Ertiin's 
province and make it an English possession, but he said : 

"The province is not worth taking, at least in the present state 6f 
affairs. The difficulty of transport from either cOast is too great; arid 



52 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

the expense also, to give return for the money. As long as the Nile is 
closed the central provinces will never pay. It is the true transit for 
trade." 

On arriving at Zanzibar Stanley enlisted 600 men for the expedition. 
Emin was reported to have a large quantity of ivory in his possession, 
and it was thought that this would go far toward paying the expenses 
of the expedition; the amount to be derived from the ivory would be 
realized when the party on their return reached Zanzibar. 

ON THE MARCH TO EMIN. 

In the latter part of February Stanley left Zanzibar for the mouth of 
the Congo ; on board were 700 men who were to accompany him. The 
journey was nearly 700 miles from the coast. Pushing on with all pos- 
sible speed he was at Aruwimi about the middle of June, at which 
point he was 400 miles from Emin's capital. He had suffered some 
delay from insufficient transportation. Wishing to rebuild the store- 
houses at Stanley Falls he left men for that purpose, and very soon began 
the overland, march. He ascended the river Aruwimi as far as it was 
navigable, and when he began his land march the baggage of the party, 
consisting of munitions and provisions, had to be transported on men's 
backs. Early in August it was reported that Stanley was advancing 
without the supplies intended for Emin. It seems that provisions were 
very scarce, and a large number accompanying the expedition were suf- 
fering from hunger. Disease also had broken out, and the fate of the 
expedition, seemed doubtful. For a time Stanley disappeared, and very 
soon perplexing rumors came from Africa. 

The interest in this last great expedition of Stanley has been almost 
of a personal, character. Multitudes of people who have never seen the 
man, never have heard his voice, and only know him by reputation, have 
yet felt towards him almost as if he were an intimate friend; they have 
shared his hardships and trials; they have wished him success at every 
step; they have waited eagerly for news from the Dark Continent; they 
have rejoiced at his triumphs and have been pained at the news of his 
sufferings. .So the great explorer, whose fame fills the world, is not only 
admired for. his heroic achievements but loved for his character an3 his 
beneficent mission. , 

The dark forebodings expressed were not to be realized. In the latter 
part of "December, 1888, less than ten days from the time that startling 
prophecies of Stanley's death were made public, reliable news came that 
the intrepid hero had reached Emin Pasha, and that his expedition was 
a complete success. On the 3d of April, 1889, a letter from Mr. Stan- 
ley's own h,and was published, which was addressed to the chairman of 
the Emin Pasha Relief Committee, and dated at Bungangeta Island, 
Aruwimi ^iver, August 28, 1888. 

NEWS FROM STANLEY. 

After: establishing Major Barttelot with a rear guard of 257 men in an 
entrenched ajid palisaded camp at Yambunga, on the lower Aruwimi, to 
a\yait carriers from Tippoo Tib before advancing, Stanley set forth to 
make his way. to Emin. His column, which consisted of 389 officers and 
men, started from Yambunga on June 28, 1887. On the first day the 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 63 

expedition marched twelve miles along the river bank to Yankarde. On 
the approach of the column the natives set fire to their villages and, un- 
der cover of the smoke, attacked the pioneers. A skirmish followed 
lasting fifteen minutes. 

ATTEMPTS TO IMPEDE THE ADVANCE. 

During the next six days the expedition marched inland in an easterly 
direction through a densely populated district. The natives used every 
art known to them to molest and impede the advance of the party, but, 
although several conflicts took place, Stanley did not lose a man. Fi- 
nally, perceiving that the path he had been following was taking him 
out of his proper course, he struck out towards the northeast, and again 
reached the river on July 5th. From this date until October i8th he 
followed the left bank of the Aruwimi. After seventeen days of conti- 
nuous marching the expedition halted for one day's rest. 

THE FIRST DEATH. 

On August 1st the first death occurred, the cause being dysentery. So 
far, for thirty-four days, the course had been singularly successful. The 
party now entered a wild country, in their nine days' march through 
which their sufferings multiplied, and several deaths occurred. On Au- 
gust 13th, on arriving at Airsibba, the natives presented a bold front, and 
the party lost five men from poisoned arrows. Lieutenant Stairs was 
wounded below the heart and suffered greatly, but he recovered. On 
August 31st the expedition met a party of Manyemas under the Arab 
chief Ugarrava, and their misfortunes began on this date. Stanley writes 
that he had taken the Congo route to avoid Arabs, who would tempt 
his men. Within three days of this unfortunate meeting twenty-six men 
deserted. 

An awful month began on September 1 8th. Leaving the station of 
the Arab chief Ugarrava, when the expedition numbered 263 men, having 
lost sixty-six by desertion and death, and having left fifty-six sick with 
Ugarrava, the march led to the Arab settlement Kilinga Longa. The 
men lived on wild fruit, fungi and nuts. Before reaching Kilinga Longa 
Stanley lost fifty-five men through starvation and desertion. A slave- 
owner at the latter place, named Abedsalim, did his utmost to ruin the 
expedition short of open hostilities. He insisted upon purchasing rifles, 
ammunition and clothing, so that the expedition left the station beg- 
gared. The men were absolutely naked, and were so weak that they 
were unable to carry the boat. Stanley was therefore obliged to leave it, 
together with seventy loads of goods, at Kilinga Longa, under the care 
of Surgeon Parke and Captain Nelson, the latter of whom was unable to 
march. After a twelve days' journey the party, on November 12th, 
reached Ibwiri. The Arab devastation, which had reached within a few 
miles of Ibwiri, )^as so thorough that not a native hut was left standing 
between Ugarrava and Ibwiri. What the Arabs did not destroy the 
elephants destroyed, turning the whole region into a horrible wilderness. 

OUT OF THE WILDERNESS AT LAST. 

Our sufferings, continued Mr. Stanley, terminated at Ibwiri. We were 



54 stan:.:.y'S last expedition. 

beyond the reach of destroyers. We were on virgin soil in a populous 
region abounding with food. We ourselves were mere skeletons. From 
289 persons we now numbered 174. Several of the party seeming to 
have no hope of life left, a halt was therefore ordered for the purpose 
of recuperating. Hitherto our people were skeptical of what we told 
them. The suffering had been so awful, the calamities so numerous 
and the forests so endless, that they refused to believe that by-and-by 
we would see plains and cattle, the Nyanza and Emin Pasha. Tliey 
.had turned a deaf ear to our prayers and entreaties, for driven by hunger 
[and suffering they sold their rifles and equipments for a few ears of 
Indian corn, deserted with the ammunition and became altogether de- 
moralized. ' Perceiving that mild punishment would be of no avail, I 
resorted to the death penalty, and two of the worst cases were hanged 
in the presence of all. We halted for thirteen days at Ibwiri, revelling 
in fowls, goats, bananas, corn, yams, etc. The supplies were inexhaustible, 
and our people glutted themselves with such effect that we had 173 
sleek and robust men. One had been killed with an arrow. 

EMERGING ON THE PLAINS. 

When we started for Albert Nyanza, on November 24th, we were still 
126 miles from the lake. Given food, the distance seemed nothing. On 
December ist we sighted an open country from the top of a ridge con- 
nected with Mount Pisgah, which was so named from our first view of 
the land of promise and plenty. On December 5th we emerged upon the 
plains, leaving the deadly and gloomy forest behind us. After 160 days 
of continuous gloom we saw the light of broad day shining all around, 
making all things beautiful. We thought we had never seen grass so 
green- or a country so lovely. The men literally leaped and yelled with 
joy- and rqiced over the ground with their burdens. Ah ! this was the 
old spirit of former expeditions, successfully completed and all suddenly 
revived. Woe betide the native aggressor whom we may meet. How- 
ever powerful, with such a spirit the men will fling themselves upon him 
like wqlves on sheep. Numbers will not be considered. It was the 
eternar forest that had made them the abject, slavish creatures so 
brutally pilundered by Arab slaves. 

RECEIVED WITH WAR CRIES. 

At Kilonga Tronga on the 9th we entered the country of the powerful 
Chief Mazamboni. The villages were scattered so thickly that no road 
- except through them could be found. The natives sighted us, but we 
were prepared. We seized a hill as soon as we arrived in the centre of a 
mass of villages, and built a zareba as fast as billhooks could cut the 
brushwood. The war cries were terrible from hill to hill, pealing across 
the intervening valleys. The people gathered in hundreds at every point, 
war horns and drums announcing the struggle. After ^ slight skirmish, 
ending in our capturing a cow, the first beef we had tasted since we left the 
ocean, the night passed peacefully, both sides preparing for the morrow. 

SIGHTING THE NYANZA. 

Here Mr. Stanley narrates how negotiations with the natives failed. 







'And now truly lie reminded me of nothing but some hellish-born creature. 

Page 94. 
(56) 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 57 

Mazamboni declined a peace offering, and now a detachment of forty 
persons led by Lieut. Stairs, and another of thirty under command of 
Mr. Jephson, with sharpshooters, left the zareba and assaulted knd car- 
ried the village, driving the natives into a general rout. The march was 
resumed on the I2th. There were constant little fights all along the 
route. On the afternoon of the 13th, without further adventure, we sighted 
the Nyanza, with Kavalli the object point of the expedition. Six miles 
off I had told the men to prepare to see the Nyanza. They murmured 
and doubted, saying, " Why does the master continually talk that way ? 
Nyanza, indeed ! " When they saw the Nyanza below them many came 
to kiss my hands. 

DESCENT TO THE SHORE OF THE LAKE. 

We were now at an altitude of 5,200 feet above the sea, with the 
Albert Nyanza, 2,900 feet below, in i degree 20 minutes. The south 
end of the Nyanza lay largely mapped for about six miles south of tliis 
position and right across to the eastern shore. Every dent in its low, flat 
shore was visible, and traced like a silver snake on the dark ground was 
the tributary Lanilki flowing into the Albert Nyanza from the south- 
west. 

After a short halt to enjoy the prospect, we commenced the rugged 
and stony descent. Before the rear guard had descended 100 feet the 
natives from the plateau poured after them, keeping the rear guard busy 
until within a few hundred feet of the Nyanza plain. We camped at the 
foot of the plateau wall, the aneroids reaching 2,500 feet above the sea 
level. A night attack was made, but the sentries sufficed to drive our 
assailants off. 

We afterwards approached the village of Kakongo, at the southwest 
corner of Albert Lake. Three hours were spent by us in attempting to 
make friends, but we signally failed. They would not allow us to go to 
the lake because we might frighten their cattle. They would not exchange 
the blood of brotherhood because they never heard of any good people 
coming from the west side of the lake. They would not accept any 
present from us because they did not know who we were. But they 
would give us water to drink and would show us the road up to the lake 
shore. 

From these singular people we learned that they had heard that there 
was a white man at Unyoro, but they had never heard of any white 
men being on the west side, nor had they ever seen any steamers on the 
lake. There was no excuse for quarrelling. The people were civil 
enough, but they did not want us near them. We, therefore, took the 
path they showed us and followed it for miles. We camped about half a 
mile from the lake, and then began to consider our position with the light 
thrown upon it by the conversation with the Kakongo natives. 

DISCUSSING THE SITUATION. 

My couriers from Zanzibar had evidently not arrived, or Emin Pasha 
with his two steamers would have paid the southwest side of the lake a 
visit to prepare the natives for our coming. My boat was at Kilinga 
Longa, 190 miles distant, and there was no canoe obtainable. To seize 
a canoe without the excuse of a quarrel my conscience would not permit. 



58 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

There was no tree anywhere of a size sufficient to make canoes. 
Wadelai was a terrible distance off for an expedition so reduced. We 
had used five cases of cartridges in five days' fighting on the plain. A 
month of such fighting must exhaust our stock. There. was no plan 
suggested that was feasible, except to retreat to Ibwiri, build a fort, send 
the party back to Kilinga Longa for a boat, store every load in the fort 
not conveyable, leave a garrison in the fort to hold it, march back to 
Albert Lake, and send a boat in search of Emin Pasha. This was the 
plan which, after lengthy discussion with the officers, I resolved upon, 

GOING BACK FOR THE BOAT. 

On December 15th we began a night march, and by 10 a. m. on the 
1 6th we had gained the crest of the plateau once more. The Kakongo 
natives having persisted in following us to the slope of the plateau, we 
had one man killed and one wounded. On January 7th we were in 
Ibwiri once again. After a few days' rest Lieut. Stairs, with 100 men, 
was sent to Kilonga Longa to bring the boat and goods. I also sent for 
Surgeon Parke and Capt. Nelson. Out of the thirty-eight sick men in 
their charge only eleven men were brought to the fort. The rest had 
died or deserted. On the return of Stairs with the boat and goods he 
was sent on to Ugarroma. He was to bring up the convalescent. Soon 
after his departure I was attacked by gastritis and an abscess on the arm. 
After a month's careful nursing by Parke I recovered, and set out again 
for the Albert Nyanza on April 2d, accompanied by Jephson and Parke. 
Nelson was appointed commandant of Fort Bodo in our absence, with a 
garrison of forty-three men and boys. 

On April 26th we arrived in Mozambini's country again. This time, 
after solicitation, Mozambini decided to make blood brotherhood with 
me. ■ His example was followed by all the other chiefs as far as the 
Nyanza. Every difficulty seemed now to be removed. Food was sup- 
plied gratis. Cattle, goats, sheep and fowls were also given in abundance, 
so that our people lived royally. 

HE HEARS FROM EMIN PASHA. 

When one day's march from the Nyanza, natives came from Kavali 
and said that a white man named Malejja had given their chief a black 
packet to give me, his son. Would I follow them? they asked. "Yes, 
to-morrow," I answered, "and if your words are true I will make you 
rich." They remained with us that night, telling us wonderful stories 
about big ships as large as islands filled with men, etc., which left no 
doubt in our minds that the^ white man was Emin Pasha. The next day's 
march brought us to Chief Kavali. After a while he handed me a note 
from Emin Pasha, covered with a strip of black American oilcloth. The 
note was to the effect that as there had been a native rumor that a white 
man had been seen at the south end of the lake, he had gone in 
a steamer to make inquiries, but had been unable to obtain reliable infor- 
mation. He begged me to remain where I was until he could communi- 
cate with me. 

The next day, April 23d, Mr. Jephson was despatched with a strong 
force to take the boat to the Nyanza. On the 26th the boat's crew sighted 
Mawa Station, the southernmost belonging to Emin Pasha. Mr. Jephson 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 59 

was there hospitably received by the Egyptian garrison. The boat's crew 
say that they were embraced one by one, and that they never had such 
attention shown to them as by these men, who hailed them as brothers. 

EMIN VISITS STANLEY'S CAMP. 

On April 27th we once again reached the bivouac ground occupied by 
us on December i6th, and at 5 P. m. on that day I saw the Khedive 
steamer, about seven miles away, steaming up towards us. Soon after 7 
p. M. Emin Pasha, Signer Casati and Mr. Jephson arrived at our camp, 
where they were heartily welcomed by all of us. Next day we moved 
to a better camping place, about three miles above Nyamassia, and at this 
spot Emin Pasha also made his camp. We were together until May 
25th, when I left him, leaving Mr. Jephson, three Soudanese and two 
Zanzibaris in his care. In return he caused to accompany me three of his 
irregulars and 102 Madi natives as porters. 

STANLEY LEAVES EMIN. 

Fourteen days later I was at Fort Bodo. At the fort were Captain 
Nelson and Lieutenant Stairs. The latter had returned from Uganowwas 
twenty-two days after I had set out for the lake, bringing with him, alas ! 
only sixteen men out of fifty-six. All the rest were dead. My twenty 
couriers whom I had sent with letters to Major Barttelot had safely left 
Uganowwas for Yambuya on March i6th. Fort Bodo was in a flourish- 
ing state. Nearly ten acres were under cultivation. One crop of Indian 
corn had been harvested and was in the granaries. On June i6th I left 
Fort Bodo with iii Zanzibaris and loi of Emin's people. Lieutenant 
Stairs was appointed commandant of the fort. Captain Nelson was second 
in command, and Surgeon Parker was medical officer. The garrison 
consisted of fifty-nine rifles. I thus deprived myself of all my officers in 
order not to be encumbered with baggage, provisions and medicines, 
which would have to be taken if accompanied by Europeans. 

HE OVERTAKES HIS COURIERS. 

On June 24th we reached Kalongo, and on July 19th Ungarrowwas. 
The latter station was deserted. Ungarrowwas, having gathered as much 
ivory as he could obtain from the district, had proceeded down the river 
about three months before. On leaving Fort Bode I had loaded every 
carrier with sixty pounds of corn, so that we were able to pass through 
the wilderness unscathed. Passing on down the river as fast as we could 
go, daily expecting to meet the couriers, who had been stimulated to 
€xert themselves for a reward of ;^io per head, or the Major himself, 
leading an army of carriers, we indulged ourselves in pleasing anticipa- 
tions as we neared the goal. On August lOth we overtook Ungarrowwa 
with an immense flotilla of fifty-seven canoes and, to our wonder, our 
couriers, now reduced to seventeen, who related an awful story of hair- 
breadth escapes and tragic scenes. Three had been slain, two were still 
feeble from wounds, all except five bore on their bodies the scars of arrow 
wounds. 



60 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

MEETING WITH THE REAR GUARD. 

A week later, August i/th, we met the rear column of the expedition 
at Bunalya. There was a white man at the gate of the stockade who at 
first I thought was Mr. Jamieson. A nearer view revealed the features 
of Mr. Bonney, who left the medical service of the army to accompany us. 

"Well, my dear Bonney, where's the Major?" I asked. 

" He is dead, sir ; shot by a Manyuema about a month ago," replied 
Bonney. 

" Good God ! " I cried ; " and Jamieson ? " 

" He has gone to Stanley Falls to try to get more men from Tippoo 
Tib." 

".And Troup?" 

" Troup has gone home invalided." 

"Well, where is Ward ? " 

"Wardisat Bangala." 

" Heaven alive ! Then you are the only one here ? " 
" "Yes, sir." 

HOW STANLEY LOST HIS KIT. 

After describing what a wreck he found the rear column to be, Stanley 
complains of the officers at Yambuya too readily accepting the deserters' 
report of his death and sending his personal kit, medicines, etc., down the 
Congo, leaving him stripped of necessaries for his return to Emin. " By 
accident," he says, " two hats, a fair pair of boots and a flannel jacket 
were left, a truly African kit with which to return ! " 

The letter then proceeds to summarize what had been accomplished. 
Stanley says : We were i6o days in the forest — one continuous, unbroken, 
compact forest. The grass land was traversed by us in eight days. 
The limits of the forest along the edge of the grass land are well marked. 
We saw it extending northeasterly, with its curves, bays and capes, just 
like a seashore. Southwesterly it preserved the same character. North 
and south the forest area extends from Nyangive to the southern border 
of Monbuttu. East and west it embraces all from the Congo, at the 
mouth of the Aruwimi, to about east longitude twenty-nine degrees, lat- 
itude forty degrees. How far west beyond the Congo the forest reaches 
I do not know. The superficial extent of the tract described totally cov- 
ered by forest is 246,000 square miles. North of Congo, between Upoto 
and Aruwimi, the forest embraces another 20,000 square miles. 

A SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAIN. 

Between Yambuya and Nyanza we came across five distinct languages. 
The land slopes gently from the crest of the plateau above the Nyanza 
down to the Congo River, from an altitude of 55oofeet to 1400 feet above 
the sea. North and south of our track through the grass land the fall of 
the land was much broken by groups of cones or isolated mountain ridges. 
To the north we saw no land higher than about 6000 feet above the sea, 
but bearing 215 degrees magnetic, at a distance of fifty miles from our 
camp on the Nyanza, we saw a towering mountain, its summit covered 
with snow, probably 17,000 feet or 18,000 feet above the sea. It is called 
Ruevenzori, and will prove a rival to Kilimanjaro. I am not sure that it 
may not prove to be the Gordon Bennett Mountain in Gambaragara, but 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 61 

there are two reasons for doubting if it be the same. First, it is a little 
too far west for the position of the latter as given by me in 1876. Second, 
we saw no snow on the Gordon Bennett. I have met only three natives 
who have seen the lake towards the south. They agree that it is large, 
but not so large as the Albert Nyanza. 

ABOUT EMIN PASHA. 

Before closing let me touch more largly upon the subject which brought 
me here, viz. : Emin Pasha. He has two battalions of regulars, the first 
consisting of about 750 rifles, and the second of 640 men. Besides these 
battalions he has quite a respectable force of irregulars — sailors, artisans, 
clerks, and servants. 

" Altogether," Emin said, " if I consent to go away from here we shall 
have about eight thousand people with us. Were I in your place I would 
not hesitate a moment or be for a second in doubt what to do. What you 
say is quite true ; but we have such a large number of women and chil- 
dren — probably ten thousand people altogether. How can they all be 
brought out of here? We shall want a number of carriers." 

** Carriers for what?" I asked. 

" For the women and children. You surely would not leave them, and 
they cannot travel." 

" The women must walk. It will do them more good than harm. As 
for the little children load them on donkeys. I hear you have about 200. 
Your people will not travel far the first month, but little by little they will 
get accustomed to it. Our Zanzibar women crossed Africa on my second 
expedition, why cannot your black women do the same ? Have no fear 
of them ; they will do better than the men." 

" They would require a vast amount of provisions for the road." 

"True; but you have thousands of cattle, I believe. Those will fur- 
nish beef, and the countries through which we pass must furnish grain 
and vegetable food." 

" Well, we will defer further talk until to-morrow." 

WHY EMIN REFUSED TO LEAVE. 

The conversation with the Pasha took place on May i, 1888, during a 
halt in camp at Nsabe. The Pasha came ashore from the steamer Khe- 
dive next day about I P. m. In a short time we commenced our con- 
versation again. Many of the arguments used above were repeated. He 
said : 

" What you told me yesterday has led me to think it best that we should 
retire from here. The Egyptian civilian employes are very willing to leave. 
There are of those about one hundred men, besides their women and 
children. I should be glad to be rid of them because they undermine m\- 
authority. When I informed them that Khartoum had fallen and that 
Gordon Pasha was slain they always told the Nubians that it was a con- 
cocted story, and that some day we should see steamers ascend the river 
for their relief But of the regulars I am extremely doubtful. They have 
led such a free and happy life here that they would demur at leaving a 
country where they have enjoyed luxuries they cannot command in Egypt, 
The soldiers are married and several of them have harems. Many irregu- 
lars would retire and follow me, while to leave now, supposing the regu- 



62 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

lars refuse to leave, you can imagine the position would be a difficult one. 
Would I be right in leaving them to their fate ? Would it not be con- 
signing them all to ruin ? I should have to leave them their arms and 
ammunition, and, on returning, all discipline would be ended. Disputes 
would arise, factions would be formed, the more ambitious would aspire 
to be chiefs by force, and from these rivalries would spring hate and 
mutual slaughter, until there would be none left." 

" Supposing you resolve to stay, what of the Egyptian civilian em- 
ployes?" I asked. 

" Oh, these I shall have to ask you to be good enough to take with 
you." 

Thus, day after day, I have recorded faithfully my interviews with 
Emin Pasha, but these extracts reveal enough for you to understand the 
position. 

I left Mr. Jephson thirteen Soudanese and sent a message to be read to 
the troops, as the Pasha requested. Ever}^thing else is left until I return, 
with the united expedition, to the Nyanza within two months. 

The Pasha proposed to visit Fort Bodo, taking Mr. Jephson with him. 
At Fort Bodo I have left instructions to the officers to destroy the fort 
and accompany the Pasha to the Nyanza. I hope to meet them all again 
on the Nyanza, as I intend making a short cut to the Nyanza along a new 
route. 



HORRORS OF STANLEY'S MARCH. 

THE EXPLORER AGAIN LOST— NEWS AT LAST— A THRIL- 
LING STORY OF ADVENTURE — THE HOMEWARD 
MARCH. 

After sending this account of his perilous and eventful journey, Stanley 
was again lost to the world for many months. It was feared that he and 
all his brave band had perished in the murky wilds of the Congo. The 
long and painful suspense was finally broken. A letter from Stanley was 
received on November 25th, written at Kaforro, an Arab settlement on 
the Karagwe, dated August 5 th. Taking the story up where his last re^ 
port left off, in September, 1 888, he says : 

" I have already told you that the rear column was in a deplorable state ,•: 
that out of the 102 members remaining I doubted whether fifty would live to 
reach the lake; but having collected a large number of canoes, the goods and 
sick men were transported in these vessels in such a smooth and expedi- 
tious manner that there were remarkably few casualties in the remnant of the 
rear column. But wild natives, having repeatedly defeated the Ugarrow- 
was raiders, and by this discovered the extent of their own strength, gave 
considerable trouble and inflicted considerable loss among our best men, 
who had always to bear the brunt of the fighting and the fatigue of pad- 
dling. However, we had no reason to be dissatisfied with the time \ve 
had made. When progress by river became too tedious and difficult, an 
order to cast ofif canoes was given. This was four days' journey above 
the Ugarrowwas station, or about 300 miles above Banalaya. We decided 
that as the south bank of the Ituri river was pretty well known to us it 




Baising his knife high in air, he huried its hilt deep in the ferocious brute's 
heart. ' — rage 98. 
(64) 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 65 

would be best to try the north bank, although we should have to traverse 
for some days the despoiled lands which had been a common centre for 
the Ugarrowwas and Kilongaiangos band of raiders. We were about ICK) 
miles from grass land, which opened up a prospect of future feasts of beef, 
veal, and mutton, and a pleasing variety of vegetables, as well as oil and 
butter for cooking. 

RAVAGED BY SMALL-POX. 

" On October 30th, having cast off the canoes, the land march began 
in earnest, and we two weeks later discovered a large plantain plantation 
in charge of Dwaris. The people flung themselves on the plantations to 
make as large provision as possible for the dreaded wilderness ahead. 
The most enterprising always secured a fair share, and twelve hours later 
would be furnished with a week's provision of plantain flour. The feeble 
and indolent reveled for the" time being on an abundance of roasted fruit, 
but always neglected providing for the future, and thus became victims to 
famine after moving from this place. 

" Ten days passed before we reached another plantation, during which 
we lost more men than we had lost between Benalaya and Ugarrowwas. 
Small-pox broke out among the Manyema, and the mortality was terrible. 
Our Zanzibaris escaped the pest, however, owing to the vaccination they 
had undergone on board the Madura. We were now about four days' 
march above the confluence of the Ihuru and Ituri rivers and within about 
a mile from Ishuru. As there was no possibility of crossing this violent 
tributary of the Iturior Aruwhimi, we had to follow its right bank until a 
crossing could be discovered. Four days later we stumbled across the 
principal village of the district, called Andikumu. It was surrounded by 
the finest plantation of bananas and plantains we had yet seen, which all 
the Manyemas' habit of spoliation and destruction had been unable to 
destroy. There our people, after severe starvation during fourteen days, 
gorged themselves to such excess that it contributed greatly to lessen 
our numbers. Every twentieth individual suffered from some complaint 
which entirely incapacitated him for duty." 

DAILY CONFLICTS WITH DWARFS. 

Six days' march northerly from Andikumu brought the. explorer and 
his party to a settlement called Indeman, where they crossed the Dni 
river and entered a district in which they had daily conflicts with W'am- 
butti dwarfs. Stanley turned southeast and followed elephant tracks. 
He says : 

" On December 9th we were compelled to halt for forage in the middle 
of a vast forest, at a spot indicated by my chart to be not more than two 
or three miles from Ituri river, which many of our people had seen. 
While we resided at Fort Bodo I sent 150 rifles back to a settlement that 
was fifteen miles back on the route we had come,- while many Manyema 
followers also undertook to follow them. I quote from my journal, part 
of which I wrote on December 14th, the sixth day of the absence of the 
foragers : * Six days have transpired since our foragers left us. For the 
first four days the time passed rapidly, I might say almost pleasantly, 
being occupied in recalculating my observations from Ugarrowawa to 
Lake Albert, down to date, owing to a few discrepancies here and there, 
5 



66 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

which my second and third visits and duplicate and triplicate observa- 
sions enabled me to correct. My occupation thus ended, I was left to 
wonder why the large band of foragers did not return." 

DEATHS FROM STARVATION. 

" On the fifth day, having distributed all the stock of flour in the camp, 
and having killed the only goat we possessed, I was compelled to open the 
officers' provision boxes and take a pound pot of butter with two cupfuls 
of my flour to make an imitation gruel, there being nothing else save tea, 
coffee, sugar and a pot of sage in the boxes. In the afternoon a boy died, and 
the condition of the majority of the rest was most disheartening. Some 
could not stand, falling down in the effort to do so. These constant sights 
acted on my nerves until I began to feel not only moral but physical sym- 
pathy, as though the weakness was contagious. Before night a Mahdi 
carrier died. The last of our Somalis gave signs of collapse, and the few 
Soudanese with us were scarcely able to move. 

" When the morning of the sixth day dawned we made broth with the 
usual pot of butter, an abundance of water, a pot of condensed milk and 
a cupful of flour for 130 people. The chiefs and Bonny were called 
to a council. At my suggestion a reverse to the foragers of such a 
nature as to exclude our men from returning with news of the disaster, 
they were altogether unable to comprehend such a possibility. They 
believed it possible that these 150 men were searching for food, without 
which they would not return. They were then asked to consider the 
supposition that they were five days searching food and that they had lost 
the road, perhaps, or, having no white leader, had scattered to loot goats 
and had entirely fprgotten their starving friends and brothers in the camp. 
What would be the state of the 130 people five days hence?" 

SEARCH FOR THE FORAGERS. 

" Bonny offered to stay with ten men in the camp if I provided ten 
days' food for each person, while I would set out in search for the missing 
men. Food to make a light cupful of gruel for ten men for ten days was 
not difficult to procure, but the sick and feeble remaining must starve 
unless I met with good fortune ; and accordingly a stone of buttermilk, 
flour and biscuits were prepared and handed over to the charge of 
Bonny. In the afternoon of the seventh day we mustered everybody, 
besides the garrison of the camp, ten men. Sadi, a Manyema chief, sur- 
rendered fourteen of his men to their doom. Kibboboras, another chief, 
abandoned his brother, and Fundi, another Manyema chief, left one of his 
wives and her little boy. We left twenty-six feeble and sick wretches 
already past all hope unless food could be brought them within twenty- 
four hours. 

" In a cheery tone, though my heart was never heavier, I told the forty- 
three hunger-bitten people that I was going back to hunt for the missing 
men. We traveled nine miles that afternoon, having passed several dead 
people on the road, and early on the eighth day of their absence from 
camp we met them marching in an easy fashion, but when we were met 
the pace was altered, so that in twenty-six hours from leaving Starvation 
Camp we were back with an abundance around us of gruel and porridge, 
boiling bananas, boiling plantains, roasting meat and simmering soup. 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 67 

This had been my nearest approach to absolute starvation in all my 
African experience. Altogether twenty-one people succurhbed in this 
dreadful camp." 

FORT BODO REACHED. 

On December 20th Stanley reached Fort Bodo, where he found Lieu- 
tenant Stairs and a garrison of fifty men. They had heard nothing of 
Emin Bey or of Jephson for seven months. The entire party continued 
the expedition, and on January 9th reached grass land. Stanley pushed 
on eastward. He says : 

" The people of the plains, fearing a repetition of the fighting of 
December, 1887, flocked to the camp as we advanced and formally 
tendered their submission, agreeing to the contributions and supplies. 
The blood of brotherhood was made, the exchange of gifts was made 
and a firm friendship established. The huts of our camp were con- 
structed by natives, and food, fuel and water were brought to the expedi- 
tion as soon as a halting place was decided on. We heard no news of 
white men on Lake Albert from the plain people until on the i6th, at a 
place called Gaviras." 

A REVOLUTION AMONG THE EGYPTIANS. 

Their messengers from Kavalli were met, having a packet of letters of 
Jephson and Emin. Under date of November 7, 1888, Jephson wrote 
from Duffle that on August 1 8th a rebellion had broken out among the 
Egyptians, and that he and the Pasha had been taken prisoners and sent 
to Regaf. Plans had also been made to entrap Stanley, but just at that 
time news was reeeived that the Mahdi's people had arrived at Lado. 
The Mahdists attacked Regaf and captured it, and the Egyptians fled in 
confusion to Muggi. Postscripts from Jephson dated November 24th and 
December i8th gave the information that the Pasha had been set at 
liberty, but had not resumed authority in the country. The Mahdists 
had surrounded Duffle, but had been repulsed. 

" The Pasha," said the latter, " is unable to move hand or foot, as there 
is still a very strong party against him, and officers are no longer in im- 
mediate fear of the Mahdis. Do not on any account come down t<> us 
at my former camp on the lake near Kavalli Island, but make your camp 
at Kavalli, on the plateau above. Send a letter directly you arrive th vre, 
and as soon as we hear of your arrival I will come to you. Will not 
disguise facts from you, that you will have a difficult and dangeious 
work before you in dealing with the Pasha's people. I trust you will 
arrive before the Mahdists are reinforced, or our case will be desperate." 

STANLEY TO JEPHSON. 

Stanley replied to Jephson : " Be wise, be quick, and waste no time. 
Bring Buiza and your Soudanese with you. I have read your letters 
half a dozen times over, but fail to grasp the situation thoroughly 
because in some important details one letter contradicts the other. li the 
Pasha can come, send a courier on your arrival at our old camp on the 
lake below here to announce the fact, and I will send a stronger detach- 
ment to escort him up to the plateau, even to carry him if he needs it. 
I feel too exhausted, after my 1,300 miles of travel since I parted from 



68 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

you last May, to go down to the lake again. The Pasha must have some 
pity for me. Don't be alarmed or uneasy on our account. 

" I have read your letters half a dozen times, and my opinion of you 
varies with each reading. Sometimes I fancy you are half Mahdist, or 
Arabist, and then Eminist. I shall be wiser when I see you. Now, 
. don't you be perverse, but obey ; and let my order to you be as a frontlet 
between th6 eyes, and all, with God's gracious help, will end well. I 
want bo help the Pasha somehow, but he must also help me and credit 
me." 

THE FASCINATION OF THE SOUDAN. 

In a postscript to Jephson, Stanley said : 

" I could save a dozen Pashas if they were willing to be saved. I 
would go on my knees and implore the Pasha to be sensible of his own 
case. He is wise enough in all things else, even for his own interest. Be 
kind and good to him for his many virtues, but do not you be drawn 
into the fatal fascination the Soudan territory seems to have for all 
Europeans in late years. As they touch its ground they seem to be 
drawn into a whirlpool which sucks them in and covers them with its 
waves. The only way to avoid it is to blindly, devotedly and unques- 
tioningly obey all orders from the outside." 

THE PASHA'S WEAKNESS. 

On February 6th Jephson arrived at Kanalle and told Stanley that 
sentiment was the Pasha's worst enemy, and that no one kept him back 
but himself '' This," says Stanley, " is the summary of what Jephson 
learned during the nine months from May 25, 1888, tor February 6, 1889. 
I gathered sufficient from Jephson's verbal report to conclude that during 
nine months neither the Pasha, Casati, nor any man in the province had 
arrived nearer any other conclusion than what was told us ten months 
before. However, the diversion in our favor created by the Mahdists* 
invasion and the dreadful slaughter they made of all they met inspired 
us with hope that we could get a definite answer at last. Though Jephson 
could o4ily reply : " I really can't tell you what the Pasha means to do. 
He says he wishes to gcf away, but will not move. It is impossible to 
say what any man will do. Perhaps another advance hy the Mahdists 
will send them all pell-mell towards you, to be again irresolute and re- 
quiring several weeks' rest" 

EMIN IN STANLEY'S CAMP. 

-A later, on February 1 3th, a native courier appeared in Stanley's 

-o« '^^^k i,g news that Emin was at anchor below the camp, and with 
tteV^,rVtu .tter from him: 

' /, q. to your letter of the 7th instant I have the honor to 

, 'i . in answer day I arrived here with my two steamers, carrying 

a fi ^T f ^'^ ^^^^ >'^^^K ^irous to leave this country under your escort. 

As • ^^' 'Of people d^. "d for a cover for my people the steamers have 

ta ^f^^'^-^^-'^ Mve arr^fjgc '^ bring on another lot of people. Awaiting 

Ira f ^ -^ '^swa Statioif u "^^^ officers anxious to see you and only 

ns er with tijiQi a^e some t^t under my orders to request you to give 

.orty soldiers. They have caw^ , 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 69 

them some time to bring their brothers from Wadelai, and I promised 
them to do my best to assist them. 

" Things having to some extent now changed, you will be able to 
make tiicni undergo whatever conditions you see fit to impose upon 
them. To arrange these I shall start from here with officers for your 
camp, and after having provided for the camp, and if you send carriers I 
could avail me of some of them. I hope sincerely that the great diffi- 
culties you had to undergo and the great sacrifices made by your expe- 
dition on its way to assist us may be rewarded by full success in bringing 
out my people. The wave of insanity which overran the country has 
subsided, and of such people as are now coming with me we may be sure. 
Permit me to express once more my cordial thanks for whatever you have 
done for us. Yours, Emin." 

THE HOMEWARD MARCH. 

A second letter from Stanley, dated August 17th, says that on April 
1st he had 280 able-bodied men, and that all the refugees agreed to leave 
Egypt under his escort. 

The march was begun on April lOth with 1,500 persons, and on the 
1 2th Stanley was stricken down with a severe illness. Many conspiracies 
were discovered in the camp, and Stanley had to take severe measures to 
repress them. In May a letter was received from Selim Bey making 
insolent charges and urging Stanley to wait longer. 

THE CIVILIZED WORLD REJOICES. 

A little over three months after the receipt of the foregoing letter from 
the great explorer, the Emin Relief Committee in Berlin, on November 
2 1 St, received the welcome news of Mr. Stanley's arrival at Mpwapwa, in 
the territories of the German East African Protectorate. On the 4th of 
December the whole civilized world rejoiced over the intelligence that he 
and Emin Pasha, attended by several hundred others, had safely made 
the journey from Central Africa, and had arrived on the east coast. 
This was hailed with great joy, because through an unfortunate tele- 
graphic error, it was believed at first that Emin had perished. 

On December 5, 1889, Stanley and Emin, mounted on horseback, 
made their triumphal entry into Bagamoyo. The town was profusely 
decorated. Green arches were built across all the avenues, and palm 
branches waved from every window. A salute of nine guns was fired by 
Major Wissman's force, and the same number by the German man-of-war. 
All the officers of the expedition were sumptuously entertained by a 
luncheon at Major Wissman's headquarters. 

Emperor William, of Germany, sent greetings. A message of con- 
gratulations came from Leopold, King of Belgium. Her Majesty, Queen 
Victoria, soon forwarded a cordial despatch expressing satisfaction at 
Stanley's brilliant successes. Emin Pasha's reception was extremely 
cordial. Owing to his poor eyesight, he unfortunately met with a serious 
accident, and was more severely injured by a fall from a balcony than 
he had been in the course of all his wanderings. 



70 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

AN INTERESTING AND PICTURESQUE MARCH. 

Stanley's journey from Mpwapwa to Bagamoyo was an interesting and 
picturesque one. The explorer was quartered in a green waterproof tent 
about twenty feet square. Emin Pasha had a roomy, very good tent, and 
beside it was pitched another equally comfortable, in which were housed 
three very good-looking Egyptian women and the Pasha's little daughter 
Farida. 

Stanley rode a very good donkey, which was presided over by a young 
man with a red turban, red knee-breeches and red shirt, and who seemed 
particularly proud of the exalted position to which he had on his per- 
sonal merits climbed. Emin, Casati, Jephson and Bonny also rode 
donkeys ; Parke, Stairs and Nelson walked. Parke had never ridden a 
step of the way across Africa. Two picked carriers conveyed Emin 
Pasha's little girl in a litter, and of the Egyptian and mongrel women 
some rode donkeys, some walked and some were carried on stretchers. 

Men and women carried infants on their shoulders, though not always, 
for one of the sad sights of the daily march was poor little picaninnies 
of six or seven years old, sore-footed and weary, hobbling along and 
crying all the time to be carried. What a time it must have been to 
these small miserables trudging along day after day on the endless road, 
thirsty, hungry, tired, stubbing sore toes, stepping on a thorn now and 
then, weeping and snuffling, losing sight of their mothers if they had 
any, jostled and passed by rude, brutish men, who wished them dead and 
out of the way — poor little wretches ! 

Then there were Wanyamvezi porters bringing ivory, who had joined 
the caravan for safety to the coast ; Emin's Egyptian officers and a motley 
assortment . of negresses from the Equatorial Province, wives and con- 
cubines of the officers and soldiers, some in the primitive costumes of 
their country and tribe, others wearing clothes. 

And so our interesting cavalcade marched seaward from camp to camp, 
and at Kikoka this was greeted by the distant boom of the sunset gun at 
Bagamoyo. Stanley's people danced and sang with joy at the familiar 
sound of a cannon boom. Some of them sat up all night singing and 
dancing so that they would hear the morning gun also, and so reassure 
themselves that there was no mistake. 

It was a time of great feasting and merry-making, those few last days 
of the great expedition. Better late than never was never more aptly 
illustrated than on the occasion of the arrival of the Emin Relief Com- 
mittee's caravan. 

STANLEY'S STORY OF THE TRIP. 

On the 14th of December the United States Government, through the 
Secretary of State, sent the following congratulatory message : 



Stanley, Zanzibar : — 

" I am directed by the President of the United States to tender his 
congratulations to you upon the success which has attended your long 
tour of discovery through Africa and upon the advantages which may 
accrue therefrom to the civilized world." 



I 

In speaking of the incidents of this march Stanley says : " This has 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 73 

certainly been the most extraordinary expedition I have ever led into 
Africa. Not one officer who was with me will ever forget the miseries 
he has endured, yet every one who started from his home destined to 
march with the advance column and share its wonderful adventures is 
here to-day safe, sound and well. Lieutenant Stairs was pierced with a 
poisoned arrow like others, but others died and he lived. The poisoned 
tip came out from under his heart eighteen months aft^r he was pierced. 
Jephson was four months a prisoner with guards with loaded rifles about 
him. 

" These officers have had to wad^ through as many as seventeen streams 
and broad expanses of mud and swamp in a day. They have endured a 
sun that scorched whatever it touched. They have been maddened with 
the agonies of fierce fevers. They have lived for months in an atmos- 
phere that medical authority declared to be deadly. They have faced 
dangers every day, and their diet has been all through infamous and 
abominable, and yet they live. The vulgar will call it luck ; unbelievers 
will call it chance; but deep down in each heart remains the feeling that 
of a truth there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of 
in common philosophy. We arrived here on November loth numbering 
altogether about 750 souls. At the last muster, three days ago, Emin 
Pasha's people numbered 294, of whom fifty-nine are. children, mostly 
orphans of Egyptian officers." 

THE DARK CONTINENT NO LONGER DARK. 

On January 14, 1890, Stanley arrived at Cairo. He was warmly 
greeted by a large crowd, and people of every nationality, race and color 
rose up to give him welcome. The Dark Continent was no longer dark. 
Africa had at last been opened to the civilization of the future, and to 
Stanley and his brave band of followers the world owed a debt of grati- 
tude. Through their lion-hearted courage, in the face of the most appal- 
ling difficulties and dangers, its vast tracts of wilderness have been ex- 
plored and opened up to the enterprise of the pioneer. It may be that in 
the lifetime of our children's children that the African forests will resound 
with the sound of the axe, and the shrill whistle of the engine will echo 
on the sides of its snow-capped mountains, and the tawny native will be 
transformed from a savage into a self-respecting citizen. Barbarism will 
then have retired from its last stronghold on the earth. 

An American girl, Miss Harriet Ford, commemorated the safe return 
of Mr. Stanley in a poem for which she received a prize of ^100. It is as 
follows : 

BACK FROM THE DEAD. 

A nation's heart that beat with pride 
At thy brave deeds and courage true, 
A heart that throbbed with anxious fears 
When dangers dread encompassed thee, 
And silence seemed to shroud thy fate. 
That heart is waiting now for thee 
As never maiden watched for love. 
Or counted days, or counted hours. 
When he she loved was from her side. 
A nation's arms that ready were 



74 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

To rescue thee from m^Jrde^ous clans 
Or save thee toil in thy brave search, 
Those arms are stretched to welcome thee 
As would a mother greet her son, 
Whose life or death hung by a thread. 
And God had giv'n him back to her. 
A nation's voice that spoke thy praise, 
And cheered thee on to do or die, 
And trembled when thy loss was feared, 
That voice now rings with gratitude, 
And echoes sound from everywhere, 
A gratitude the world must feel 
To thee for knowledge of itself. 
A nation's thankful prayers are raised 
To that Great Guide who guards unseen, 
Who led thee on to rescue one 
The world had given up for lost — 
A brave man by a brave man saved. 
May that same hand that guided thee 
Protect thee still and bring thee safe 
Across the seas to English soil. 



CENTRAL AFRICAN CANNIBALS. 

FEROCIOUS SAVAGES WHO THINK A DISH OF HUMAN 
FLESH DELICIOUS EATING. 

Stanley's latest letters give encouraging accounts of the progress and 
growth of Christianity in the Dark Continent, which has opened up the 
pathway for civilization. Some of the difficulties met with by other ex- 
plorers than Stanley make interesting reading. For example, when Dr. 
L. Wolfe discovered a new route to Central Africa up the Sankuru, a 
plot to kill the party was hatched by Bassango-Mino natives, who openly 
discussed it, not knowing that one of Wolf's men could understand 
them. " See !" cried the chief, " they have no spears or arrows. We 
will kill them all and take their beautiful things." Wolf walked up to 
the chief, fired a revolver close to his ear, and the savage dropped to the 
ground with fright and then begged the white man to go on his way in 
peace. Grenfell tried blank-cartridges on the Tchuapa river until they 
ceased to be a virtue. " You shoot with smoke," shouted the hostiles, 
" and smoke never hurt us yet." A few whizzing bullets, which splashed 
water over their canoes, gave them other views, and they retired to a 
respectful distance. Grenfell has never shed a drop of blood in all his 
long journeys on the steamer " Peace." When he could not advance 
without killing the natives he retired. One day he turned his prow 
toward a crowd of howling natives who were poising their spears on the 
shore ; he pacified them by coming near enough to throw among them 
a cloth full of beads, brass wire and other trinkets. 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 75 

A WOMAN'S CLEVER RUSE. 

Another time, when the " Peace " grounded on a sand-bar, his wife 
pursued the same tactics toward a band of angry man-eaters, and in 
their scramble for the trinkets the natives forgot to attack them until the 
boat was again in the channel. 

The reputation of being a great wizard has saved many a traveler. 
When the Bamgala refused to sell food to Coquilhat, and he was in a 
T sad plight, he told them that unless they obeyed his request he would 
summon his brothers to his aid. Looking down the river the natixes 
saw a steamer approaching, to which Coquilhat pointed, and for awhile 
there was nothing too good for a man who could summon steamboats 
by a wave of his hand. 

ODD THINGS ON THE CONGO. 

It is estimated that full one-third of the 20,000,000 inhabitants of 
the Congo basin are man-eaters. Some curious discoveries have been 
made about them. As a rule they do not eat women. Although some 
tribes, like the Manyema, say that the flesh of a man tastes better than 
that of a woman, it is believed that the chief reason the fair sex usually 
escape the cooking-pot is because their money value is higher in trade 
than that of men, and besides very few of them are ever killed in war. 

Cannibal tribes, strange to say, are often superior in build, intelligence, 
and in their arms to the natives who are not guilty of this horrible and 
disgusting practice. The assembly hall of the Monbutta cannibals, 
which is the largest building yet found in Equatorial Africa, is over 50 
feet high and about 150 feet long, and its immense roof is supported by 
five rows of posts made of trunks of trees. The Monbuttu are the most 
famous cannibals of the Congo Basin. When Schweinfurth visited them 
they followed the tribes around them simply as game, killed as many of the 
enemy as they could, smoked the flesh and bore it away as provisions. 

SUSPENSION BRIDGES OF STOUT VINES. 

Among other curious sights of the Congo Basin are the suspension 
bridges, a net-work of stout vines thrown across the streams. They are 
usually the private property of a chief, who collects toll of the passen- 
gers. The finest specimens of these bridges are said to be those made 
by the Manyema cannibals in the Upper Congo Basin. They are so 
skilfully made and firmly anchored that they hardly move under the 
tread of marching people. 

The best native servants of the Congo State are the Bangala can- 
nibals, who thickly populate the banks of the Congo above the Mobangi. 
Five thousand of these cannibals, many of whom manned the canoes 
which gave fearful battle to Stanley and chased him down the river, cry- 
ing, " Meat! meat!" are now enrolled among the State militia and are 
trained to service as soldiers, boatmen and station laborers. 

Tribes that do not indulge in this atrocious practice have the greatest 
horror of cannibals. Coquilhat's men at Bangala could not repress 
their disgust when they saw scores of natives walking about nibbling 
human flesh, which they held in banana leaves. Von Francois described 
the terror of his fat servant when thev reached tiie cannibnl tr;btr> of tlie 



76 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

Tchuapa river. Nothing could induce him to leave the boat, and he was 
wisely precautious, for the natives regarded him with greedy eyes, and 
more than once begged the whites to make them a present of the man 
as a token of friendship. Knowing that the whites abhor the practice, 
the natives often deny at first that they eat human flesh, but when they 
can no longer conceal the fact of their indulgence they boldly justify 
it. The Manyema told one explorer that their neighbors were thieves 
and ought to be eaten. " They come here," they said, " and steal our 
bananas, and so we chase and kill and eat them." A small tribe near 
the Kassai told Kund and Tappenbeck that they were not friends of 
theirs, for when their friends came to see them they always brought them 
a few men to eat. 

A NOBLE ANIMAL FOR EATING. 

The Bangala were rather bright in some of the answers they made to 
Coquilhat's words of protest. 

" This is horrible," he said to a chief whom he caught at dinner. 

" On the contrary, it is delicious with salt," was the reply. 

" This is a bad use to put a man to," Coquilhat remarked to another. 

" All your talk about man being such a great being," the chief answered, 
" shows that human flesh is the best sort of food. It is a noble aliment, 
while the flesh of mere animals is a vile sort of nourishment." 

The more intelligent cannibals admit that when they eat men they 
destroy a source of wealth, but they say they cannot renounce a great 
pleasure to secure a doubtful gain. 

A distinction must be made between those cannibals who only occa- 
sionally taste human flesh, and those with whom it is an habitual food 
resource. The Bangala, for instance, believe that the bravery and other 
qualities of a victim are imparted to those who partake of his flesh. A 
white man who lived long amongst them says he only saw three cannibal 
feasts in five months. 

There are many tribes, however, like those along the Aruwimi, with 
whom human flesh is an article of daily diet if they can get it. It was 
among these people at the mouth of the Aruwimi that a Haussa soldier 
in the service of the state had a thrilling experience. He and two others 
were left at the site of a station the state intended to establish. The 
natives took his two comrades out in canoes on a pretense of fishing, and 
from the bushes where he had concealed himself he saw their dead bodies 
brought back, and all the preparations of the cannibal feast. He was 
captured and destined to the same fate, but before the preparations were 
made he managed to escape. For weeks he lived in the woods, subsist- 
ing upon roots and a little raw manioc he stole at night from the gardens. 
He was finally caught again, but being too emaciated for service, he lived 
on the fat of the land while acquiring the requisite plumpness. He was 
finally rescued by Arabs, just as he was about to be sacrificed. 

WAGING WAR TO GET MEAT. 

Captain Van Gele has told of the densely peopled portion of the Lower 
Mobangi, where tribes make war for the single purpose of procuring 
meat. He saw a war expedition of the Baati which numbered fifty 
canoes. At the mouth of the Aruwimi river a station has just been 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 77 

established whose garrison includes several hundred Basoko cannibals. 
It is believed that by decreasing the opportunities for indulging in this 
practice the men-eaters who are in the service of the state will be gradually- 
weaned from it. The state fully intends to exert its influence as far as 
possible to prevent cannibalism. It is an encouraging fact that one tribe 
is known, the Baluba, who voluntarily abandoned cannibaHsm, and now 
regard the practice with disgust. Though it will undoubtedly be a very 
slow process, there is reason to believe that as the influence of the white 
man extends, cannibalism will gradually disappear in the Congo Basin, 
just as it has in many Pacific islands. 



THE FAMOUS NIAM NIAM TRIBE. 

STANLEY MINUTELY DESCRIBES THESE PECULIAR 
DENIZENS OF THE DARK CONTINENT. 

Stanley gives us the following description of the Niam Niam tribe, 
which he found to be the most interesting of the man-eating people : 

I reckon it my good fortune that I was so soon to meet the famous 
Niam Niam tribe. Apart from some specialties which will always apper- 
tain to the human race, as long as it hangs unconsciously upon the breast 
of its great mother, Nature, they are men of like passions with ourselves, 
equally subject to the same sentiments of grief and joy. I have ex- 
changed many a jest with them, and have participated in their child-like 
sports, enlivened by the stirring beating of their war drums, or by the 
simple strains of the mondolin. 

Their name means " great eaters." My travels were confined to the 
eastern portion of the country, but in that district alone I became ac- 
quainted with as many as thirty-five independent chieftains. I should 
estimate the entire population of this region at at least 2,000,000 souls. 
They are so markedly peculiar in their appearance that it makes them 
capable of being identified at the first glance amid the whole series of 
African races. 

IDENTIFIED BY THE SHAPE OF HIS HEAD. 

I will give a case in point. I was engaged one day in taking the meas- 
urements of a troupe of Bongo bearers, when I at once detected that the 
leader of the band had all the characteristics of the Niam Niam type. I 
asked him how it happened that he was a * nyare,' that is a local overseer 
among the Bongo, when the mere shape of his head declared him, beyond 
doubt, to be a Niam Niam. To the astonishment of those who were 
present, he replied that he was born of Niam Niam parents, but that it had 
been his fate when a child to be conveyed into the country of the Bongo. 

This is an example which serves to demonstrate how striking are the 
distinctions which enables an observer to carry out the diagnosis of a 
negro with such certainty, and to arrive at conclusions which ordinarily 
could only be conjectured by noticing his apparel or some external and 
accidental adornments. 



78 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

AN EXPRESSION OF ANIMAL FEROCITY. 

The round broad heads of the Niam Niam are covered with the thick 
fuzzly hair of what are termed the true negroes ; this is of extraordinary 
length, and arranged in long plaits and tufts, flowing over the shoulders 
and sometimes falling as low as the waist. The eyes, almond shaped and 
somewhat sloping, are shaded with thick sharply-defined brows, and are 
of remarkable size and fullness ; the wide space between them testifies to 
the unusual width of the skull, and contributes a mingled expression of 
animal ferocity, warlike resolution, and ingenious candor. A flat square 
nose, a mouth of about the same width as the nose, with very thick lips, 
a round chin, and full plump cheeks complete the countenance, which 
may be described as circular in its contour. 

The body of the Niam Niam is ordinarily inclined to be fat, but it does 
not commonly exhibit much muscular strength. The average height 
does not exceed that of Europeans, a stature of 5 feet 10)^ inches being 
the tallest I measured. The upper part of the figure is long in propor- 
tion to the legs, and this peculiarity gives a strange character to their 
movements, although it does not impede their agility in their war dances. 
The skin in color is in no way remarkable. Like that of the Bongo it 
may be compared to the dull hue of a cake of chocolate. 

Among the women, detached instances may be found of various shades 
of a copper colored complexion, but the ground tint is always the same — 
an earthy red. As marks of nationality they serve themselves with three 
or four tattoed squares, filled up with dots, which they place upon the fore- 
head, the temples, or the cheeks. They have, moreover, a figure like the 
letter X under the breasts, and in some exceptional cases they tattoo the 
bosom and upper parts of the arm with a variety of patterns, either stripes 
or dotted lines or zigzags. 

THEY FILE THEIR INCISOR TEETH. 

No mutilation of the body is practised by either sex, but this remark 
must be subject to the one exception that they fall in with the custom, 
common to the whole of Central Africa, of filing the incisor teeth to a 
point, for the purpose of effectually griping the arm of an adversary either 
in wrestling or in single combat. 

On rare occasions a piece of material made from the bark of the Uros- 
tigina is worn as clothing, but as a general rule the entire costume is 
composed of skins which are fastened to a girdle and form a picturesque 
drapery about the loins. The finest and most variegated skins are chosen 
for this purpose. Long black monkey tails are also fastened to the 
dress. 

Only chieftains and members of royal blood have the privilege of cover- 
ing the head with a skin. The men take an amount of trouble in arranging 
the hair which is almost incredible, whilst nothing could be more simple and 
unpretending than the ordinary head gear of the women. It would, in- 
deed, be a matter of some difficulty to discover any kind of plaits, tufts, or 
top-knots which has not already been tried by the Niam Niam men. The 
hair is usually parted right down the middle ; towards the forehead it 
branches off so as to leave a kind of triangle ; from the fork which is thus 
formed a tuft is raised and carried back to be fastened behind ; on either 







The brave hunter turned and buried his knife in the great creature's throat." — 

Page 99. 
(80) 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 81 

side of this tuft the hair is arranged in rolls like the ridges and crevices 
of a melon. 

ODD HAIR DRESSINGS. 

Over the temples separate rolls are gathered up into knots, from which 
hang more tufts, twisted like cord, that fall in bunches all round the neck, 
three or four of the longest tresses being allowed to go free over the breast 
and shoulders. The women dress their hair in a simpler but somewhat 
similar manner, omitting the long plaits and tufts. The most peculiar head- 
gear that I saw was one in which the head was encircled by a series of 
rays like the glory which adorns the likeness of a saint. This circle is 
composed entirely of the man's own hair, single tresses being taken from 
all parts of the head and lightly stretched over a hoop, which is fastened 
to the lower rim of straw hat by four wires, which are drawn out before 
the men lie down to sleep, when the whole arrangement admits of being 
folded back. This elaborate coiffure demands great attention, and much 
time must be devoted to it every day. It is only the men who wear any 
covering on the head. 

They use a stovepipe-shaped hat that is without any brim, square at the 
top and ornamented with a waving plume of feathers. It is fastened on 
the head by means of large hairpins, made either of iron, copper, or ivory, 
and tipped with crescents, tridents, knobs, or other devices. 

THE CURIOUS BONGO TRIBE. 

As a contrast to the man-eating Niam Niam, Stanley presents us with 
the pen picture of another most interesting tribe, the Bongo. Of it he 
says that with the exception of human flesh and the flesh of dogs the 
Bongo seems to consider all animal substance fit for eating, in whatever 
condition it may be found. The putrifying remnant of a lion's feast which 
lies in the obscurity of a forest, and is only revealed by the kites and vul- 
tures circling in the air above, is to them a welcome discovery. That 
meat is " high ' is a guarantee for its being tender, and they deem it in 
that condition not only more strengthening than when it is fresh, but 
likewise more easy of digestion. There is, however, no accounting for 
taste, certainly not with the Bongo, who do not recoil from the most re- 
volting of food. Whenever my cattle were slaughtered I always saw my 
bearers eagerly contending for the half-digested contents of the stomach. 

EAT ANYTHING THAT CREEPS OR CRAWLS. 

Like the Esquimaux whose only idea of vegetables appears to be what 
they obtain from the paunches of their reindeers,. I have seen the Bongo 
calmly strip off the disgusting Amphistoma worms which literally line the 
stomachs of all the cattle of this region and put them into their mouths 
by haridfuls. After that it was not a matter of surprise to me to find that 
the Bongo reckons as game everything that creeps or crawls, from rats 
and mice to snakes, and that he is not particular what he eats, from the 
carrion vulture to the mangy hyena, or from the fat earth scorpions (het- 
eronietrus palmatus) to the caterpillars of the winged termites with their 
oily beetle bodies. • ^:.- ?> 

6- ^ - - 



82 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

HOW THEY BUILD THEIR HOUSES. 

The houses of the Bongo are built in a circle, seven or eight being the 
number that generally constitutes a single circle. The diameter of the 
dwelling rarely exceeds twenty feet, the height ordinarily being the same. 
The entrance consists of a hole so small that it is necessary to creep 
through to get inside. The door is a hurdle, swung upon two posts, so 
as to be pushed backwards and forwards at pleasure. The clay floor in 
the interior is always perfectly level. It is made secure against damp as 
well as against the entrance of white ants by having been flattened down 
by the women trampling upon broad strips of bark laid upon it. 

The common sleeping place of the parents and children is on the floor. 
The bedding generally consists of skins, the Bongo having little use for 
mats. For the pillow of the family they ordinarily use a branch of a tree 
smoothed by being stripped of its bark. 



COMMUNITIES OF DWARFS. 

FIERCE LITTLE WARRIORS WHO FIGHT WITH POISONED 
SPEARS AND ARROWS. 

In his first expedition across the continent of Africa Stanley heard at 
Nyangive of fierce dwarfs who were said to live in forests in the North, 
and to fight like demons with poisoned spears and arrows, and eating the 
bodies of those they slew. Several years afterwards other explorers dis- 
covered the Batwa dwarfs living in the Congo Basin! 

The arrows of these little people, slimy with poison, were showered by 
hundreds on the wooden sun roof of the passing steamer, or dashed against 
the steel net work that protected the deck. Looking up tjie steep bluffs 
the tiny elfs could be seen swinging with the agility of monkeys from 
limb to limb on the great trees, creeping far out onto the branches that 
overhung the river, where they leveled their arrows at the stranger. Over 
275 miles further south a more peaceable tribe of dwarfs was met with, 
living in tiny huts. They seemed to be timid little souls, and were lighter 
in color than their fighting brethren. The Akka, another tribe of fierce 
dwarfs, are believed to be the smallest people in the world. They are 
from four feet to four feet six inches in height. The Batwa are a little 
taller. Both these tribes are cannibals. 

THEY ARE NOCTURNAL FIGHTERS. 

The dwarfs attack their enemies in the night, creeping noiselessly up to 
set fire to the huts, and then shoot their helpless victims as they rush out. 
When they are on the march to new camps they sleep at night on the 
branches of trees out of the reach of wild beasts. If they have any meat 
to spare they take it to the nearest chief and exchange it for vegetables 
or for brass wire and beads, with which they buy women for wives. Thus 
they intermarry with the people among whom they wander, and as aeon- 
sequence many of the offspring are larger than their fathers. 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 83 

HORRIBLE HUMAN SACRIFICES. 

The most horrible practice in this region, next to man-eating, is the 
offering up of human sacrifices on the occasion of the funeral ceremonies 
of important persons. The richer the family of the deceased person the 
more numerous are the victims. Many photographs of Upper Congo 
huts that have reached this country show the ridge-pole adorned with 
human skulls — ghastly relics of these murderous scenes. The natives 
cannot understand the horror with which the whites regard the practice. 
" Surely," they say, " since you white men are so much richer than we 
are, you must sacrifice many slaves when your great men die." Because 
far up the tributaries slaves can be bought much cheaper than on the 
Congo, canoe parties are sent for hundreds of miles for the sole purpose 
of buying victims for human sacrifices. 

MEET THEIR FATE WITHOUT A TREMOR. 

As a rule these helpless captives meet their fate without a tremor. 
They are blindfolded, bound to a stake in a sitting gr kneeling posture, 
and a single blow of the skillful executioner's knife decapitates them. 
Stanley made a picture of one of these terrible scenes at Equator 
Station, where fourteen strong men met their fate surrounded by a howl- 
ing mobj whose din was enhanced by a dozen ivory horns and the roar 
of drums as the knife descended. Though men form the greater number 
of victims, wives or female slaves are often strangled and thrown into 
the open grave or buried alive in it. Only once have the vi^hites seen a 
woman beheaded, and the shrieks of the poor creature were tn striking 
contrast to the dogged and sullen submission to the fate of the other 
victims. Stanley says the men regarded his oppositioil to the cuistom 
with pity or contempt, but 5ome of the women secretly^ said to him, " It 
is bad." 

The good day is coming when this terrible custom and otlier savage 
enormities will be abolished in the Congo State. King LeOpolti's gov- 
ernment is rooting them out as far its influence extends. It iS placing 
gun-boats on the upper river and building military stations on the 
Aruwimi, the Lomami and the Sankuru to put an end to Arab slave 
raids, and to the practice of buying or capturing human victims for the 
executioner's knife or the cannibal feast. Nearly a hundred chiefs in 
1888 agreed to abolish human sacrifices and to help enforce the r^gula* 
tions of the State for preserving peace and protecting human lift. 



RULED BY AMAZONS. 

A QUEEN WHOSE CRUELTY IS UNPARALLELED— THE 
CURIOUS CONGOESE. ; * 

Of all the tribes with whom Stanley was brought in contact in his 
joumeyings through the great African Continent, tniere were none more 
interesting than the Congoese. 



84 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

At one time there was no more famous kingdom in all Africa than that 
of Congo. When the king was elected he came out of the palace, glo- 
rious in trinkets, to give the benediction to his people, who had assembled 
from far and near in the palace square for this grand event. The priests 
and nobles arrayed themselves around him. He rises and all the people 
prostrate themselves before him. He stretches his hands over them, and 
makes gestures with his fingers without uttering a word. Shouts of joy, 
followed by firing of muskets and a jubilee of banquets, close the great 
event. 

One of the taxes levied in the kingdom was on beds — a slave for every 
span's breadth being the rate at which it was made. This tax was devoted 
to the support of the king's concubines, and as a broad bed was thus a 
considerable expense to its owner, the possession of this piece of furni- 
ture in Congo was looked upon as a sign of great wealth. 

When the king desired a fresh companion, a married woman was 
selected, her husband and the lovers whom she confessed to (for it seems 
they all had them, married or single) being put to death. She then 
entered the royal seraglio, where much more liberty than would be 
granted in Mohammedan kingdoms was allowed to her. On the king's 
death all his wives were buried with him. 

THEY DARE NOT SEE HIM EAT. 

No man dare see the king eat or drink. All this must be done in 
privacy. If a dog even entered the house while the august sovereign was 
at food it was killed; and a case is recorded in which the king ordered 
the execution of his own son, who had accidentally seen him drink palm 
wine. 

As in most parts of Africa, the old Congo kings, before the decay of 
the slave trade ruined them, monopolized, as far as they could, the com- 
nlefce of the.country. This is still the fashion of the Muata-Yanvo of 
't'he.'Kahoko empire, east of the Congo country. When traders arrive at 
the capital, their goods are deposited in the capital until the king's mes- 
sengers, who are sent into the neighboring countries, can collect the slaves 
arid ivory he is willing to give in exchange. 

The fetish men or priests are very important here; the chief of them, 
who goes by :the- name of Chitome, is scarcely less honored than the king. 
A sacred fire burns continually in his house, and the embers which are 
supposed to be good for the cure of all diseases, are sold by him at a high 
price. He has the entire regulation of the under priests. As soon as he 
leaves his house, the husbands and wives throughout the kingdom are 
obliged to separate, under pain of death. I^ case of disobedience, the 
man only is, punished, and cases have been known where wives who dis- 
liked their husbands have accused them of breaking this strange law, and 
have thereby gained a double advantage, in freeing themselves from a 
man whom they did apt like, and made for themselves the nfame of being 
very religious. 

■ FETISH MEN CONSENT TO BE MURDERED. 

There is only one thing that troubles the Chitome. He is so' holy that 
he cann6t die a natural death, for if he did so the universe would imme- 
diately be dissolved. Consequently, as soon as he is seized with a dan- 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 85 

gerous illness, the Chitome-elect calls at his house, and saves the universe 
by knocking out his brains with a club, or strangling him with a cord if 
he should prefer it. That his own death must be of a similar character 
has no effect upon the new Chitome, who, true to the negro character, 
thinks only of the present time, and, so far as being anxious about the 
evils that will happen at some future time, does not trouble himself even 
about the next day. 

Some of the priests are rain-makers, who perform the duties of their 
office by building little mounds of earth and making fetish over them. 
From the centre of each charmed mound rises a strange insect, which 
mounts into the sky and brings as much rain as the people have paid for. 
These priests are regularly instituted, but there are some who are born to 
the office, such as dwarfs, hunchbacks, and albinos, all of whom are 
highly honored as specially favored individuals, consecrated to the priest- 
hood by Nature herself 

The priests have a system of ordeal, the commonest mode being the 
drinking of the poison cup, and the rarest, the test of the red-hot iron, 
which is applied to the skin of the accused, and burns him if he be guilty. 
There is no doubt that the magicians are acquainted with some prepara- 
tion which renders the skin proof against a brief application of hot iron, 
and that they previously apply it to an accused person who will pay 
for it: 

At the present day the Congo king and great men disfigure themselves 
with European clothing, such as silk jackets, velvet shoes, darnask coats, 
and broad-brimmed hats. But in the former times they dressed Becom- 
ingly in native attire. A simple tunic made of very fine. grass clotK, and 
leaving the right arm bare, covered the upper part of the body,,whne a 
sort of p^ttfcoat, made of similar material, but dyed black, was tied round 
the waist, and an apron, or " sporran," of leopard skin was fastened' to 
the girdle and hung in front. On their.heads they av ore a sort of hood, 
and sometimes preferred a isquare red and yellow cap,. , Sandals' rn'ade of 
the palm tree were the peculiar privilege of the.. king and notles. the 
common people being obliged to go bare-footed. ' « . - . . 

WIVES WHO RECEIVE VIGOROUS ATTENTION. 

' The wives in Congo are tolerably well off, except .that they are 'severely.' 
beaten with the heavy hippopotamus-hide whip.; . The women do ' not'' 
resent 'this treatment, and indeed, unless a woman is soundly flogged 
occasionally she thinks that her husband is neglecting her',..' 5n(f' feels 
offended accordingly. The king has the power of taking, any worrian 
for his wife; whether married or not, and when she goes .to. tlie royal 
harerh her husband is judiciously executed. . . •■" 

The'people of Congo are^-probably on account of the enervating 
climate— a very indolent and lethargic race, the women being Vh'ade to 
do all the work, while the men lie in the shade and smoke their pipes 
and drink their palm-wine, which they make remarkably well, though 
not so well as the Bube tribe of Fernando Po. Their houses are merely 
huts of the simplest description ; a few posts with a roof over them and 
twigs woven between them by way of walls. The clothing is simply a 
piece of native cloth tied around the middle. 



8^ STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

RULED BY AMAZON QUEENS. 

At one time they were ruled over by a queen named Tembandumba, 
who from the tales that are told of her, must have been a regular demon. 
By her. exploits in w^r she succeeded in making herself feared :md 
respected by both her enemies and her subjects. Her cruelties and 
tyranny were so terrible that it was only the great awe in which she was 
held that prevented her subjects from rebelling. She had a host of 
. lovers, all of whom, one after the other, she killed with the most cruel 
I tortures as soon as she had tired of them. She ordered that all male 
children, all twins, and all infants whose upper teeth appeared before 
their Ipwer ones, should be killed by their mothers and an ointment made 
from their bodies in the way that she would show. The female children 
should be reared and instructed in war ; and male prisoners, before being 
killed and eaten, should be used for the purposes of procreation. 

On one occasion she seized her own child, which was feeding at her 
breast, fluog him into- a mortar and pounded him to a pulp, which she 
put in i3i large e^rthem ppt, adding roots, herbs and oil, and made the 
whole, into an ointment, with which she rubbed herself, telling the people 
th^tt thi.? would m?^G her incapable of being wounded and that now she 
coulql conquer t;he world, -^t once her subjects were seized with ^ savage 
rage and massacred all their male children. Women's flesh was alsp 
forbid^e^ ,to ,be e^ten. Kut she soon found it impossible to battle against 
n^t;vM:e. Mp(t)ier§ cQnceialed ^their ni^le infants ; a,nd though officers were 
ftppQiiflite4 ^0 he preseat at tyory birth to see that the law was carried out, 
y€.t, ^lifter ^ tmQ, lihe Jomvl4 it fleces^ary to order that the invulnerable 
pintiW^t^ght foe made g^f the bodies of infant? captured in war. Whole 
territof^ w^-e conquered and iaid waste; and disafTection ip her own 
array she. ikqjt do^4» by h^ipg the /orces continually employed. 

TJiE QUJSEN^S TRAGIC END. 

As age grew upon her §ihe ^ew wor$e and worse — more cruel to her 
victims ; more abominable in all her dealings with her subjects. At last 
she was s^j^ue^. JFaiiwg (desperately in love with a private soldier in 
her army she publicly married him and gave him half her throne and 
Jcingclam. At last she grew tired of him as she had grown tired of a 
hundred ii^ore. But she had met her match- Calming, cajoling and 
:flafet^ing his terrible q[,ueen the king-consort managed for a time to post- 
pone feis ii^yitable .fate— to be fonoled to-day to be dined off to-morrow. 
Oi*e day be entertained her at dinner with all the choice viands which 
' the kingdom of Copgo cowld supply. Her drink had been poisoned. 
Her husband was saved, and the kingdom freed from a tyrant whose rule 
was A^egiAniag to he too heavy to bear. Yet he was never suspected ; 
or petrhaps his act was of too meritorious a character to be taken notice 
of. So, after much wailing over her funeral — as subjects will wail over 
kings no matter how vile — Tembandumba slept with her fathers ; and 
Culemba, her affectionate husband, reigned in her stead. 

THE DEMON QUEEN. 

Shinga was another female demon. Before she undertook any new 
enterprise she would sacrifice the handsomest man she could find. Clad 



i 




laa^asmmtmmiasSmSBamtaKmtm 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 89 

in skins, with a sword hanging round her neck, an axe at her side, and 
bow and arrow in her hand, she would dance and sing, striking two 
iron bells. Then taking a feather she would put it through the holes 
in her nose, as a sign of war, w^ould cut off the victim's head with her 
sword, and drink a deep draught of his blood. She had fifty or sixty 
male favorites, and while she always dressed herself as a man they 
were compelled to take the names and garments of women. If one 
of them denied that he was a woman he was immediately killed. The 
queen, however, was charitable enough to let them belie their words by 
their actions. They might have as many wives as they chose ; but if 
a child was born the husband was compelled to kill it with his own' 
hands. 

A PEOPLE GOING TO DECAY. 

At the present time the Congo kingdom has fallen from its high estate. 
The people are lethargic and altogether given over to palm-wine and 
tobacco ; their houses are huts of grass fibres or palm leaves, and their 
clothing a piece of native cloth round the middle. Their domestic 
utensils are on a par with this primitive barbarism. Baskets made of 
the fibre of the palm tree, bowls or gourds, earthen vessels for boiling, 
wooden spoons, and beds of grass on a raised platform are about the only 
furniture of their simple huts. Whatever magnificence once existed is 
now almost gone. 

A FINE-LOOKING RACE. 

Another celebrated tribe of blacks- is the Shillooks, who live on the 
banks of the White Nile. They are very wealthy and possess immense 
herds of cattle, cultivate the ground, and are fishermen and warriors. 
Their huts are regularly built, looking at a distance like rows of mush- 
rooms. They row boldly on the river in raft-like canoes made of am- 
batchrwood. 

They are a fine-looking race of savages, and very like savages they 
look. The men are tall, jx)werful, and well-formed, but their features, 
approach the negro type, and are heavier and coarser than those of the 
tribes which have been previously mentioned. The women are not nearly 
so good-looking as the men, and are rather clumsily built. 

Neither sex is much troubled with clothes. The males never wear an.y 
clothes at all; nor do the females, until they are married, when they tie a 
fringe of grass around their waists, some of the wealthier women being 
able to use a leathern fringe, of which they are very proud. Their orna- 
ments really sfeem to serve no other purpose but to disfigure the wearers 
as much as possible. Beginning with the head, the men stain their 
woolly hair of a dusty red by a mixture of which ashes form the chief 
part. They then take a sort of pipe-clay, and plaster it thickl}^ into 
the hair at the back part of the head, dressing it up and shaping it until 
it is formed into a cone, the shape of the ornament varying according to 
the caprice of the individual. By means of this clay head-dress the hair 
is thrown back from the face, the expression of which is not improved by 
the horizontal lines that are tattooed across it. 

The natural glossy black of the skin, which has so pleasing an appear- 
ance, is utterly destroyed by a coating of wood ashes, which gives to the 
surface a kind of grayish look. On the upper arm they generally wear 
a large armlet of ivory, and have heavy coils of beads round their necks. 



00 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

The wrists are adorned with rings of copper and other ornaments, and 
on the right wrist they carry an iron ring armed with projecting blades. 

THEY ARE GREAT SMOKERS. 

Every man among them carries with him at all times a huge pipe, 
holding nearly a quarter of a pound of tobacco, and, should his supply 
of tobacco be exhausted, he lights a piece of charcoal,' puts it into his 
pipe, and inhales the vapor that it draws from the tobacco-saturated bowl. 

The women are not so much adorned as the men, probably because the 
stronger sex prefer to use the ornaments themselves. At a little distance 
the women all look as if they were smoking cigarettes. This odd appear- 
ance is caused by a strange ornament which they wear in their upper lip. 
They take a piece of iron wire, about four inches in length, and cover it 
with small beads. A hole is then pierced in the upper lip, and the orna- 
ment inserted, so as to project forward and rather upward. 

They are very fond of beads, and are glad to exchange articles of food 
for them. One kind of bead, about the size and shape of a pigeon's egg, 
is greatly valued by them ; and when Stanley was travelling through 
their country, he purchased an ox for eight such beads. The chief came 
on board the boat, and, as usual, asked for everything he saw. 

LUDICROUS ATTEMPT TO GET INTO SHOES. . 

Among other odd things he set his affections on Stanley's shoes, which, 
as they were nearly worn out, were presented to him. Of course they 
were much too small for him, and the attempts which he made to put 
them on were very amusing. After many failures, he determined on 
carrying them home, where he thought he might be able to get them on 
by greasing his feet well. 

When the chief entered the cabin and saw the wonders of civilized life 
he was quite overcome with the novel grandeur, and proceeded to kneel 
on one knee, in order to give the salutation due to a great chief. " Grasp- 
ing my right hand, and turning up the palm, he quietly spat into it, and 
then, looking into my face, he deliberately repeated the process. Stag- 
gered at the man's audacity, my first impulse was to knock him down, 
but, his features expressing kindness only, I vented my rage by returning 
the compliment with all possible interest. His delight seemed excessive, 
and, resuming his seat, he expressed his conviction that I must be a great 
chief. Similar salutes followed with each of his attendants, and friendship 
was established." This strange salutation extends through many of the 
surrounding tribes. 



STANLEY FINDS THE MISSING LINK. 

HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE PECULIARITIES OF THE WON- 
DERFUL SOKO, WHICH CAN DO EVERYTHING THAT 
A MAN CAN BUT TALK. 

The African jungles abound with lions, tigers, panthers, and ferocious 



itttHtillliiHi 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 91 

beasts of all kinds. Among the most interesting animals in this wonder- 
ful country is the soko, a species of gorilla. It is an ungainly-looking 
animal, with a light yellow face, set off with ugly whiskers, an immense 
mouth, and dog-like teeth. The hands, or fingers, are like those of the 
natives. He is extremely knowing, successfully stalking men and women 
while at their work, kidnapping children, and running up trees with them. 
One man was cutting out honey from a tree, when a soko suddenly ap- 
peared, and caught him and let him go; another man was hunting, and 
missed in his attempt to stab a soko ; it seized the spear and broke it, 
then grappled with the man, who called to his companions, " Soko has 
caught me ; " the soko bit off the ends of his fingers, and escaped un- 
harmed. 

THEY NEVER TOUCH A WOMAN. 

The soko kills the leopard occasionally, by seizing both paws and 
biting them so as to disable them ; he then goes up a tree, groans over 
his wounds, and sometimes recovers, while the leopard dies ; at other 
times both soko and leopard die. The lion kills him at once, and some- 
times tears his limbs off, but does not eat him. The soko eats no flesh — 
small bananas are his dainties, but no maize. His food consists of wild 
fruits, which abound. The soko brings forth at times twins. Some 
Manyuema think that their buried dead rise as sokos, and one was killed 
with holes in his ears, as if he had been a man. He is very strong, and 
fears guns but not spears ; he never catches women. 

Sokos collect together and make a drumming noise, some say with 
hollow trees, then burst forth into loud yells which are well imitated by 
the natives' embryotic music. If a man has no spear, the soko goes 
^way satisfied, but if wounded he seizes the wrist, lops off the fingers, and 
spits them out, slaps the cheek of his victim, and bites without breaking 
the skin ; he draws out a, spear (but never uses it), and takes some leaves 
and stuffs them into his wound to staunch the blood ; he does not wish 
an encounter with an armed man. He sees women do him no harm, and 
never molests them ; a man without a spear is nearly safe from him. 
They beat hollow trees as drums with hands, and then scream as music 
to it ; when men hear them they go to the sokos ; but sokos never go to 
men with hostility. Manyuema say, " Soko is a man, and nothing bad in 
him." 

They live in communities of about ten, each having Jiis own female ; 
an intruder from another camp is beaten off with their fists and loud 
yells. If one tries to seize the female of another, he is caught on the 
ground, and all unite in boxing and biting the offender. A male often 
carries a child, especially if they are passing from one patch of forest to 
another over a grassy space ; he then gives it to the mother. 

STANLEY'S LITTLE PETS. 

One of the Arabs caught a young female soko whose mother had been 
killed, and gave it to Stanley, who gives the following amusing account 
of it : She is eighteen inches high, has fine long black hair all over, which 
was pretty, so long as it was kept in order by her dam. She is the least 
mischievous of all the monkey tribe I have seen, and seems to know that in 
me she has afriend, and sits quietly on the mat beside me. In walking, the 
first thing observed is that she does not tread on the palm of her hands, but 



92 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

on the backs of the second line of bones of the hands ; in doing this the 
nails do not touch the ground, nor do the knuckles ; she uses the arms 
thus supported crutch fashion, and hitches herself along between them ; 
occasionally one hand is put down before the other, and alternates with 
the feet, or she walks upright and holds up a hand to any one to carry her. 
If refused, she turns her face down, and makes grimaces of the most 
bitter human weeping, wringing her hands, and sometimes adding a fourth 
hand or foot to make the appeal more touching. Grass or leaves she 
draws around her to make a nest, and resents any one meddling with her 
property. She is a most friendly little beast, and came up to me at once, 
making her chirrup of welcome, smelled my clothing, and held out her 
hand to be shaken. She eats everything, covers herself with a mat to 
sleep, and makes a nest of grass or leaves, and wipes her face with a leaf. 

A DANGEROUS BRUTE. 

A dangerous brute to encounter is the rhinoceros. He is ferocious, 
swift, strong, with a very tough hide, and whether his foe is man or beast 
he is not likely to come out second best in a combat. The following 
account of what befell a party of travelers will show the fury of this 
brute. 

As meat was wanted several of the party proposed to set off at an 
early hour to bring in some from the animals we had killed. As I did 
not like to be left behind I begged to be allowed to mount a horse and 
to ride with them. I should have been wiser to have remained quietly 
at the camp, but I wanted to revisit the scene of our encounter the pre- 
vious day. Several of the blacks followed behind, who were to be loaded 
with our spoils. As we neared the spot I heard my friends exclaiming 
in various tones: Where is it? What has become of the creature? and, 
pushing forward, I caught sight of the elephant and the dead lion at a 
distance, but nowhere was the rhinoceros to be seen. It was very evi- 
dent that it could not have been killed as we had supposed, and that, 
having only been stunned, it at length recovered itself, and had made 
off ' ; 

Toko, one of the party, cried out that he had discovered its trail, and 
I saw him hurrying forward, evidently hoping to find the victim. The 
other blacks meanwhile set to work to cut out the tusks and select a few 
slices off such parts of the body as were most to their taste. 

While they were thus occupied my three white friends were busy in 
flaying the lion. I kept my eye on Toko, expecting that, should he dis- 
cover the rhinoceros, he would summon some of the party to his assist- 
ance. I saw him look suspiciously into a thicket, then he turned to fly. 
The next moment a huge beast rushed out, which I had no doubt \vas 
the rhinoceros we fancied we had killed the previous day. Toko made 
for a tree behind which he could shelter himself I called to my friends 
to draw their attention to the danger in which he was placed, but to my 
dismay, before he could reach the tree, the rhinoceros was upon him. 

A DESPERATE CONFLICT. 

There was no time to leap either to the one side or the other, but as 
the animal's sharp horn was about to transfix him he made a spring as if 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 93 

to avoid it, but he was not in time, and the animal, throwing up its head, 
sent him and his rifle floating into the air to the height of several feet. 

The rhinoceros then charged on towards the men cutting up the 
elephant, when my uncle and his companions, having seized their rifles, 
began blazing away at it. Fortunately, one of their shots took effect, 
and before it had reached the blacks down it sank to the ground. 

I had ridden up to the native, expecting to find every bone in his body 
broken. As I approached, to my satisfaction, I saw him get up; and 
though he limped somewhat, after shaking himself and picking up his 
rifle, he declared that he was not much the worse for the fearful toss he 
had received, and was as ready as ever for work. 

He soon rejoined the rest of the men and assisted in packing the oxen 
with the tusks and meat. Some of the flesh of the rhinoceros was also 
cut off, and with the lion skin packed up. Rhinoceros meat, though 
tough, is of good flavor. The portions we carried off were from the 
upper part of the shoulder and from the ribs, where we found the fat and 
lean regularly striped to the depth of two inches. Some of the skin was 
also taken for the purpose of making some fresh ox-whips. We of 
course carried away the horns, which are about half the value of ivory. 
Altogether, the adventure, which at one time appeared likely to prove so 
disastrous, afforded us no small amount of booty. 



THE GREATEST OP EXPLORERS. 

STANLEY A MIGHTY HUNTER— HIS THRILLING ADVEN- 
TURES WITH WILD BEASTS. 

Henry M. Stanley, though an American by residence and education, 
was born at Denbigh, in Wales, in 1840. The names of his parents were 
Rowlands. They belonged to the very poor. As it was not possible 
for him to be cared for and supported at home, at the early age of three 
years he was placed in the almshouse in St. Asaph. He remained at 
the almshouse until he was thirteen years old. We next hear of him 
being a teacher at Mold in Flintshire, endeavoring by this occupation to 
provide himself with the means of taking a thorough course of study and 
completing his education. By this time the restless spirit of the youth 
had begun to show itself, and he gave signs that his life would be one of 
■adventure. He resolved to try- his fortune in the New World, so he 
! shipped on a vessel bound for New Orleans. Here he obtained employ- 
ment with a merchant named Stanley, who, attracted by the frank, open 
manner of the boy, received him into his family, and soon adopted him 
as his own son. Unfortunately for the lad his adopted father died with- 
out making a will, and Stanley was thrown on the world to make his 
fortune. He accordingly went to California, from which he returned at 
the time of the war. As he had resided in the South it was natural that 
he should enter the Confederate Army. He was captured by the Union 
troops and made a prisoner of war. 

He was confined on the iron-clad Ticonderoga, where his manly bear- 
ing and frank, genial manner won him friends. He was released on 



94 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

condition that he would join the United States Navy, which he consented 
to do. At the close of the war there was trouble in Turkey, and he went 
there as a correspondent for the New York Herald. For several years 
thereafter he did excellent work for that paper in various parts of Europe^ 
until finally the question as to what had become of Livingstone was 
agitating the whole civilized world. On the 1 6th day of October, 1869, 
James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the managing editor of the paper, sent for 
Stanley and gave him one of the most important and difficult commis- 
sions ever given to mortal men, the exploration of the Dark Continent m 
search of David Livingstone. 

THE SOUL-TERRIFYING GORILLA. 

Stanley has made himself famous not only by his travels, extending 
into new and hitherto unknown regions, but also by his adventures with 
the animals of the Tropics, many times at the risk of his life. The fol- 
lowing is a description of how he captured his first gorilla. 

Suddenly as we were creeping along, in a silence which made a heavy 
breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were at once filled with the 
tremendous barking roar of the gorilla. Then the underbrush swayed 
rapidly just ahead, and presently before us stood an immense male gor- 
illa. He had gone through the jungle on all-fours, but when he saw 
our party he erected himself and looked us boldly in the face. He 
stood about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight never to forget. 
Nearly six feet high, at least so appearing, with immense body, huge 
chest and great muscular arms, with fiercely-glaring, large, d^ep-gray 
eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me like some 
nightmare vision, — thus stood before us this king of the African forests. 

He was not afraid of us. He stood there and beat his breast with his 
huge fists till it resounded like an immense bass-drum, which is their 
mode of offering defiance, meantime giving vent to roar after roar. The 
roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noisfe heard in these 
African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, like an angry dog, then 
glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely resembles the roll 
of distant thunder along the sky, for which I have sometimes been 
tempted to take it where I did not see the animal. So deep is it that it 
seems to proceed less from the mouth and throat than from the deep 
chest and vast paunch. 

A FORMIDABLE MONSTER. 

His eyes began to flash fiercer fire as we stood motionless on the 
defensive, and the crest of short hair which stands on his forehead begaft 
to twitch rapidly up and down, while his powerful fangs were shown as 
he again sent forth a thunderous roar. And now truly he reminded me 
of nothing but some hellish-dream creature — a being of that hideous; 
order half man, half beast, which we find pictured by old artists in some 
representation§ of the infernal regions. He advanced a few steps — then 
stopped to utter that hideous roar again — advanced again, and finally 
stopped when at a distance of about six yards from us. And here, as 
he began another of his roars and beating his breast in rage we fireid 
and killed him. 



^uSa^ 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 97 

A DEATH STARTLINGLY HUMAN. 

With a groan which had something terribly human in it, and yet was 
full of brutishness, it fell forward on its face. The body shook convul- 
sively for a few minutes, the limbs moved about in a struggling way, and 
then all was quiet — death had done its work — and I had leisure to exam- 
ine the huge body. It proved to be five feet eight inches high, and 
the muscular development of the arms and breast showed what immense 
strength it had possessed. 

My men, though rejoicing at our luck, immediately began to quarrel 
about the apportionment of the meat — for they really eat this creature. 
I saw that we should come to blows presently if I did not interfere, and 
therefore said I should myself give each man his share, which satisfied 
all. As we were too tired to return to our camp of last night we deter- 
mined to camp here on the spot, and accordingly soon had some shelters 
erected and dinner going on. Luckily, one of the fellows shot a deer 
just as we began to camp, and on its meat I feasted while my men ate 
gorilla. 

I noticed that they very carefully saved the brain, and was told that 
charms were made of this — charms of two kinds. Prepared in one way 
the charm gave the wearer a strong hand for the hunt, and in another it 
gave him success with women. This evening we had again gorilla stories 
— but all to the same point already mentioned, that there are gorillas in- 
habited by human spirits. 

The young athletic Negroes, in their ivory huts, w^ell know the habits 
of the gorilla. He does not, like the lion, sullenly retreat on seeing 
them, but swings himself rapidly down to the lower branches, courting 
the conflict, and clutches at the foremost of his enemies. The hideous 
aspect of his visage, his green eyes with their glaring fire, his open mouth 
and fierce-looking teeth, the savage hand-like claws vvhich form the end 
of his lower extremities all render him an object of terror. When he 
is pursued, as he is sometimes by daring natives who are his natural 
enemies, he w^ill defend himself with the utmost courage, and has been 
known to attack his foes with indescribable fury. 

KILLING THE BLOODTHIRSTY TIGER. 

On another occasion one of the advance couriers came in to say that a 
tiger was reported in the neighborhood of one of the near villages, and 
we all prepared for an exciting day. We were told that the tiger carried 
off daily a bull from the fields and escaped with it into a densely grow^n 
marsh a few miles away. When we reached the locality the men, armed 
with spears, began to beat the bushes much as if they were simply after 
hares. Still, as they did not seem to mind the danger, I could not see 
why I should worry about them, though I sat ready w^ith gun in rest on 
my elephant's back. 

The plan w^as successful, for two enormous tigers bounded out of the 
high underbrush like young cats. Our men's cries and the general hub- 
bub confused them and made them lose their heads, and they ran back 
and forth without any plan or method. Suddenly one of them sprang at 
my elephant with wild fury, as is their favorite method of attack. I came 
to the rescue with my rifle, and hurled the brute upon the ground, and 
the elephant placed his ponderous feet, one on its flanks and one ^n its 
7 



98 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION, 

head. I felt a violent jerk and shock and heard the cracking of bones 
like the sound of a tree broken by the force of the tempest, and I saw 
the beast flattened under the weight of the massive elephant. 

Meanwhile the other tiger had not remained inactive. In the excite- 
ment it had been forgotten. One of my men had become separated at 
some distance from the rest of the party. He was near the edge of a 
frightful precipice. The tiger seemed suddenly to catch sight of him, 
and with a bound the beast made a spring at him. In his fright the poor 
fellow started along a narrow log bridge that lay across the narrow chasm 
between two mighty precipices. The brute quickly followed, and just as 
he was about to make the final spring, Furlong, bracing himself against 
a sapling, raised his knife high in the air, and buried it hilt-deep into the 
ferocious brute's heart. 

MANY FEROCIOUS LIONS. 

At Kuruman the chief difficulty that Stanley had to contend with at 
first was the number and ferocity of the lions, which not only leaped into 
the cattle pens of the village at night, but sometimes attacked the herds 
in broad daylight. Expeditions sent out against the marauders returned 
without having achieved any success, and knowing that if but one of the 
troop of lions was killed the others would take alarm and leave the 
country, Stanley determined himself* to join a sortie against them. 

Great was the consternation of the natives, who firmly believed that a 
neighboring tribe had given them into the power of these merciless 
animals. Their attacks upon them were feeble and half-hearted, so that 
hitherto the lions had come off victors. Stanley now came to their aid. 

They discovered their game on a small tree-covered hill. The circle 
of hunters, at first loosely formed around the spot, gradually closed up, 
and became compact as they advanced towards it. Stanley seeing one . 
of the lions sitting upon a piece of rock within the ring, fired but missed 
him, the ball striking the rock by the feet of the animal, which, biting 
first at the spot struck, bounded away, broke through the circle, and es- 
caped, the natives not having the courage to stand close and spear him in 
the attempt, as they should have done. The circle re-formed, having yet 
within it two other lions, at which the pieces could not be fired, lest some 
of the men on the opposite side should be hit. Again there was a bound 
and a roar, and yet again ; and the natives scattered and fled, while the 
lions went forth free to continue their devastations. 

A THRILLING ENCOUNTER. 

But they did not seem to have retreated far, for as the party was going 
round the end of a hill on their way home to the village, there was one 
of the lordly brutes sitting quietly, as though he had purposely planted 
himself there to enjoy their defeat, and wish them " Good-day." It was 
but a little distance from Stanley, who having both hands occupied in the 
management of the camel on which he was mounted, had given his rifle 
to a gun-bearer who was some distance in the rear. The men uttered 
cries of terror, and the camel snorted with fear. There was no time to 
retreat, and drawing his only weapon, a long knife, Stanley faced the 
desert monarch, which crouching low sprang through the air, but landed 
upon the back of the terrified camel. The brave hunter turned and 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 99 

buried his knife in the great creature's throat, just as one of the lion's 
paws descended upon his thigh. 

The blow caused him to lose his seat on the back of the camel and fall 
heavily to the ground. Instantly the lion was upon him. He was con- 
scious only of another blow upon his chest that caused his senses to reel ; 
of two glaring eyes, and hot breath upon his face ; a momentary anguish, 
as he was seized by the shoulder and shaken. as a rat by a terrier; then 
came a stupor, which was afterwards described as a sort of drowsiness, in 
which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, although there 
was perfect consciousness of all that was happening. 

Being thus conscious, as one in a trance might be, Stanley knew that 
the lion had one paw on the back of his head, and, turning round to 
relieve himself of the pressure, he saw the creature's eyes directed to 
Mebalwe, a native, who, at a distance of ten or fifteen yards, was aiming 
his gun at him. It missed fire in one barrel, and immediately he was 
attacked by the brute and bitten in the thigh. Another man also, who 
attempted to spear the lion, was seized by the shoulder ; but then the 
bullet which he had received and the knife wound took effect, and, with a 
quiver through all his huge frame, the cattle-lifter rolled over on his side 
dead. 

A NARROW ESCAPE. 

All this occurred in a few moments ; the death-blow had been inflicted 
by Stanley. No less than eleven of the brute's teeth had penetrated the 
flesh of his assailant's arm, and crushed the bone ; it was long ere the 
wound was healed. The jacket which he had on wiped, as he believed, 
the virus from the lion's teeth, and so preserved him from much after-suf- 
fering, such as was experienced by the others who were bitten and had 
not this protection. 

That night while the party was encamped and Stanley, suffering from 
his wounds, was unable to leave his tent, an immense lion sprang into the 
kraal, where the wagons were packed, and seizing ^Niambe, one of the 
explorer's most devoted followers, bounded away in the darkness, while 
the shrieks of the poor native were terrible to hear. One of Stanley's 
officers, rifle in hand, ran out of the k^^aal"^ and. fir^e^r^al^^the retreating 
beast, but the shot evidently did not take effect, for the next morning they 
found the bones of poor Niambe picked clean, and the trail of the lion 
where it had entered the jungle. 

HUNTING THE BULL ELEPHANT. 

Another time, says Stanley, when galloping through a gfrcenbttt thorn- 
less bush, I came in sight of a grand bull elephant, steaming ak>ng like a 
locomotive engine straight before me. Digging in the spurs, F was soon 
within twenty yards of him ; but the ground was so unfavorable, being 
full of buffalo holes, that I could not pass him. In about a quarter of an 
hour, after a careful chase over deep ruts and gullies concealed in high 
grass, I arrived at a level space, and shooting ahead, I gave feim a shoul- 
der shot. I saw the wound in a good place, but the biSl rushed ateng all 
the quicker, and again we came into bad ground that mad^ it unwise to 
close. However, on the first opportunity I made a dash* by htm, and 
fired my left-hand barrel at full giallop. He slackened his speed, but I 



100 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

could not halt to reload, lest I should lose sight of him in the high grass 
and bush. 

THE HUGE BEAST FACES HIS FOES. 

Not a man was with me to hand a spare rifle. My cowardly fellows, 
although light-weights and well mounted, were nowhere. In vain I 
shouted for them ; and I followed the elephant with an empty rifle for 
about ten minutes, until he suddenly turned around, and stood facing me 
in an open spot in grass about nine or ten feet high. My horse was a 
grand animal for elephants, not having the slightest fear, and standing fire 
like a rock, not even starting under the discharge of the heaviest charge 
of powder. I now commenced reloading, when presently one of my men, 
Yaseen, came up upon my other horse. Taking a spare gun from him I 
rode rapidly past the elephant, and suddenly reining up, I made a good 
shot exactly behind the bladebone. With a shrill scream the elephant 
charged down upon me like a steam engine. I spurred my horse but he 
balked ; I reeled in the saddle, and for the first time in my life was un- 
horsed. I fell upon my side, and before I could gain my feet the enraged 
mammoth was upon me. With another shrill scream it seized me around 
the body in. its powerful trunk and I was lifted high in air. I felt that 
death was near, and closed my eyes. There was the crack of a rifle, the 
great beast tottered, his trunk hold upon me was relaxed, and I fell to the 
ground, merely stunned. When I recovered my senses the elephant lay 
beside me dead, and Yaseen, my gun-bearer, stood over me grinning with 
pleasure. He had saved my life, for by a lucky shot in the elephant's 
right eye which had penetrated the brain, he had laid the great beast low 
just as the enraged monster was about dashing me to the ground. 



THE FEROCIOUS CROCODILE. 

A THRILLING FIGHT WITH BLOOD-HUNGRY SAURIANS. 
IN A CATARACT'S WHIRL. 

Crocodiles are, perhaps, the greatest foes of the traveller. Even the 
natives erttertafin for them a peculiar dread. Once in their ferocious laws, 
all hope is gone. Stanley had many narrow escapes from the crocodiles 
vv hich infest many of the rivers of Africa. An account from his writings 
shows the dangers met by tropical explorers. It is as follows : 

Suddenly the scene became startling. I heard an exclamation of hor- 
ror from- the natives, who, with eyes starting from their sockets, pointed 
eastward toward the nearer tree clumps. 

" What is' it?" said I, straining my eyes in the same direction, but in 
vain. • :■'•■;••••• r 

" Crocodilesli ■ Crocodiles !" 

I repeated the word mechanically, my heart sinking within me as I, too, 
began to distinguish the black points which indicated to the natives* quick 
eyes the aipproaching enemy. 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 101 

FACE TO FACE WITH THE MONSTERS. 

" Are you sure ? " I whispered hoarsely, the cold sweat pouring off my 
forehead. 

" Yes, Sahib, certain ; there are four of them." 

I had only six explosive-ball cartridges, and, in spite of their terrible 
effectiveness, I could but remember that the crocodile in the water is well- 
nigh invulnerable, with only his armor-plated back exposed. However, 
the terrible foe was still some way off, and I should not myself have 
detected them but for the natives' quick instinct. There was nothing left 
us but to try, at any cost, to reach the nearest of the tree islands, avoid- 
ing by guess the bottomless mud-holes that beset the path. 

The unfortunate native who was responsible for our position headed 
the line again, sounding to right and left, as he advanced, with his spean 
It is impossible to describe this adventure — marching through the water, 
pursued by crocodiles, not daring to put down one's foot tmtil assured by 
sounding that it would reach something solid. Although the island grew 
perceptibly nearer, our hungry neighbors did too, and at an increasing 
pace. Still we were distancing them — for over many of the shoals they 
could not swim, and wading, for a crocodile, is a slow process — when, 
without warning, and as quick as lightning, we felt the ground sink 
beneath our feet, and we were all four precipitated simultaneously into the 
swamp. Instinctively, my attendant and I raised ou-r weapons and am- 
munition high over our heads, for when we touched bottom — ^that is, a 
fairly solid layer of vegetable matter — the water reached our arm-pits. 

" We might as well give up," said I, in despair ; " this time we are lost !'* 

" Oh, don't give up yet, Sahib. We are so low that, with this head 
wind, the crocodiles cannot see us and will perhaps be unable to find us 
at all. Let us cover our heads with these marsh grasses and leaves and 
* lie low.* " 

STRUGGLING FOR DEAR LIFE. 

His advice was so evidently good that instead of a vain attempt to 
reach the firm land with its inevitable exposure to the hungry eyes of our 
terrible pursuers, we acquiesced at once. After several' minutes of sus" 
pense, the native raised himself slightly on a hummock, and glanced 
cautiously toward the spot where we had last seen them. His face cleared 
at once, and he cheered us with — 

" They have lost us, and have separated to search for us. Three are 
going almost directly from this place, and one only knows enough to keep 
on in the first course." 

" And he is headed for us ? " 

" In a straight line ! " 

" Then do not lose sight of him for an instant. With one enemy we 
may be able to cope, and then there is a chance that he may lose the scent/* 

When I asked him again where the animal was — for I dared not raise 
my own head to look — he replied that he was still coming straight toward 
us, and I saw that a meeting was inevitable and made my preparations 
accordingly. 

I took my rifle and loaded it with an explosive ball. 

" Now then," said I, " listen to my instructions. The natives say the 
crocodile is sure to find us. I shall let him get within ten yards of us, 
and then I shall fire at whatever vulnerable part I can — his eye or his 



102 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

belly. Of course I may miss him, or the bullet may glance off his back 
without wounding him. 

The black's eyes rolled with horror. 

" Then, without an instant's hesitation and yet without haste, you, who 
must stand just behind me, must take my rifle and hand me my other gun 
for a second shot. Do you understand ? " 

" Perfectly." 

" And I can depend on you ? " 

" Till death." 

'* We will try to make it less bad than t/tat, and your courage shall 
meet its reward.'* 

"A SHUDDER OF HORROR RAN THROUGH ME." 

I knew what he said was true, for the fellow had been devoted to me 
ever since. I saved his life in the jungle when the gorilla grappled him, 
and I felt I could rely upon him. 

Raising myself as high as I could, I took a good look at the slowly 
appr oachiag monster, and, I confess, a shudder of horror ran through me 
at his immense size. He was farther off than I expected, and evidently 
quite unconscious of our neighborhood, into which he had come by 
chance, foUowing the raised path on which we ourselves had been 
travelling wfaea the tide overtook us. I immediately changed my plan 
of attack. I ordered my attendant to wade off to the left so that the 
smoke from his gim should not blow across me, and told him to fire at 
the crocodile and try to wound him, if only slightly. 

As this wowld make the latter raise his head and look round, I hoped 
to get a shot at some vulnerable spot, and land an explosive ball where it 
would do most good. I had hardly taken up my position, with rifle 
lifted, when my attendant's gun cracked sharp and clear, and I saw blood 
fly from. the eye of the crocodile, whose advance ceased immediately. I 
could scarcely restrain a cry of joy, but catching sight of a yellow piece 
of neck, I fired at it and shut my eyes. A great splash and the shouts 
of triumph of the natives encouraged me to open them, and I found the 
success of. the shot greater than I had hoped. 

A HARD DEATH. 

The crocodile lay on his. side, on a little island, with his neck blown 
open the entire length of the jaw, while the natives, who hiade a break 
for land without regard to me, capered round him. I called them, and 
" they helped me on shore to where the animal lay in his last agony — for 
these brutes die as hard as a snake. He was a very large specimen, with 
a head twice as long as it was broad, his eyes set close together above 
his long snout, of which only the under jaw was movable. His front 
feet had five toes armed with claws, and his hind feet but four, and webbed 
to allow him to swim easily. His whole body was shingled with plates 
of a shell-like membrane, that made him a fine coat of mail nearly bullet- 
proof. Green on the back, his color gradually shaded off into yellow, 
and he was a terrible foe to meet in the water, where we should not have 
come off so well had not our good luck stood by us just as it did. 

I was duly thankful to regain the bank, which I had never expected to 
touch again, and had not the heart to blame the native who was 



I 




(104) 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 105 

responsible for our narrow escape, but I resolved to place less reliance 
upon the natives in future. 

DASHED OVER THE FALLS. 

The following morning Stanley and one of his white followers attempted 
an exploration of the lake, on the shore of which they had camped. 
They put out in a light native canoe, and after following the shore for 
some time, heard the thunder of a mighty cataract. They paddled in the 
direction of the sound, but soon found to their horror that they were 
being drawn toward the brink of the falls, and were powerless to save 
themselves. Suddenly the boat shot forward with frightful velocity, and 
they were precipitated over the dizzy brink. The boat was capsized, and 
both were thrown into the boiling flood. Swiftly they were hurled 
through the foaming torrent past huge boulders which, if they had struck 
against, would have dashed them to pieces. At the foot of the falls was 
a pool of calm water and, half-drowned, they fell into this. 

Both were considerably bruised and their lungs were filled with water, 
but they managed to swim ashore, and after a wearisome tramp reached 
their camp. The boat was dashed to pieces on the cruel rocks. 



I 



THIEVING NATIVES. 

ROGUES WHO ARE CLEVER PICKPOCKETS— ONLY FAT 
WOMEN CONSIDERED HANDSOME BY THE WEEZEES. 

The Backwains, or Bechuanas, a tribe of savages living at Chonuane, 
who embraced Christianity, are great thieves. Their chief was a man of 
great intelligence, but he had some amusing ideas and ways. When he 
became a Christian, he wanted to make his subjects converts by thrashing 
them with whips of rhinoceros hide. Stanley could not approve of this 
new mode of conversion, and the chief was persuaded to adopt a milder 
course. 

These people consider a plentiful smearing of grease and red ochre to 
be the very acme of a fashionable toilet, and think that washing the body 
is a disgusting custom. Women are the smokers of the tribe, the men 
preferring snuff, and rather despising the pipe as a woman's implement. 

They can hardly be selected as examples of good moral character. 
No one who knows them can believe a word they say, and they will steal 
everything that they can carry. They are singularly accomplished thieves,, 
and the habit of stealing is so ingrained in their nature, that if a man is 
detected in the very act he feels not the least shame, but rather takes 
blame to himself for being so inexpert as to be found out. Small articles 
they steal in the most ingenious manner. Should it be hanging up, they 
contrive to handle it carelessly and let it fall on the ground, and then 
they begin active operations. Standing near the coveted article, and try- 
ing to look as if they were not aware of its existence, they quietly scrape 
a hole in the sand with one of their feet, push the object of their desire 



106 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

into the hole, cover it up again with sand, and smooth the surface so as 
to leave no trace that the ground has been disturbed. 

They steal each other's goods, whenever they can find an opportunity, 
but they are only too glad to find an opportunity of exercising their art 
on a white man, whose property is sure to be worth stealing. A travel- 
ler in their country has therefore a hard life, for he knows that there is 
not a single article in his possession which will not vanish if he leaves it 
unguarded for a few minutes. Indeed, there does not seem to be an 
honest nerve or fibre in a Bechuana's body ; from the root of his tongue 
to the tips of his toes, every muscle is thoroughly trained in the art of 
thieving. If they merely sit near an article of moderate size, when they 
move off it moves with them, in a manner that no wearer of trousers can 
conceive. 

STEALING CATTLE BY NIGHT. 

Some mornings, says Stanley, we had to record thefts committed in the 
course of twenty-four hours, in our houses, our smith-shop, our garden, 
and among our cattle in the field. These they have more than once driven 
into a bog or mire, at a late hour informing us of the accident, as they 
termed it ; and, as it was then too dark to render assistance, one or more 
would fell a prey to the hyaenas or hungry natives. One night they en- 
tered our cattle-fold, killed one of our best draught oxen, and carried the 
whole away except one shoulder. We were compelled to use much meat, 
from the great scarcity of grain and vegetables ; our sheep we had to pur- 
chase at a distance, and very thankful might we be if out of twenty we 
secured the largest half for ourselves. They would break their legs, cut 
off their tails, and more frequently carry off the whole carcass. 

Tools, such as saws, axes, and adzes, were losses severely felt, as we 
could not at that time replace them, when there was no intercourse what- 
ever with the colony. Some of our tools and utensils which they stole, 
on finding the metal not what they expected, they would bring back 
beaten into all shapes, and offer them in exchange for some other article 
of value. Knives were always eagerly coveted ; our metal spoons they 
melted ; and when we were supplied with plated iron ones, which they 
found not so pliable, they supposed them bewitched. 

NO END TO THEIR STEALING. 

To their thieving there was no end. They would peep into the rude 
hut that was used for a church, in order to see who was preaching, and 
would then go off to the preacher's house and rob it at their ease. These 
accomplished thieves have even been known to steal meat out of the pot 
in which it was being boiled, having also the impudence to put a stone 
in place of the stolen meat. One traveller found that all his followers 
were so continually robbed by these rascals that he at last stopped trying 
to find the thieves and threatened instead to punish any man who allowed 
an article to be stolen from him. They do not spare even their own 
chief, but would rob him with as little compunction as if he were a 
foreigner. 

One of Stanley's men was cheated by them in a very ingenious manner. 
He had purchased three ivory rings with some tobacco, but when he 
left the place he found that the same ring had been sold to him three 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 107 

successive times, the natives behind him having picked his pockets with 
the dexterity of a London thief, and then passed the ring to their com- 
panions to be again offered for sale. 

LITTLE REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. 

They have but little regard for human life, especially that of a woman, 
and a husband may kill his wife if he likes, without any particular notice 
being taken of it. A husband became angry with his wife about some 
trifling matter, seized his assagai, and killed her on the spot. The body 
was dragged out by the heels, and thrown into the bush to be devoured 
by the hyaenas, and there was an end of the whole business. Stanley 
being horrified by such an action, laid an information before the chief, 
and was only laughed at for his pains, the chief thinking that for any one 
to be shocked at so ordinarv an occurrence was a very good joke. 

Still, the Bechuana has his redeeming qualities. They are not quar- 
relsome, and Stanley remarks, that during all the time which he spent 
among them, he never saw two men openly quarrelling, nor any public 
breach of decorum. They are persevering and industrious in the arts of 
peace, and learn to work in iron and carve wood with a skill that can 
only be attained by long and careful practice. 

HOW BOYS ARE MADE MEN. 

Among one branch of the Backwain tribe, a very remarkable ceremony 
is observed when the boys seek to be admitted into the rank of men. 
The details are kept very secret, but a few of the particulars have been 
discovered. Stanley happened once to witness the second stage of 
^ceremonies, which last for a considerable time. 

A number of boys, about fourteen years of age, without a vestige of 
clothing, stood in a row, and opposite those was an equal number of men, 
each having in his hand a long switch cut from a bush belonging to the 
genus Grewia, and called in the native language moretloa. The twigs 
of this bush are very strong, tough, and supple. Both the men and boys 
were engaged in an odd kind of dance, called " koha," which the men 
evidently enjoyed, and the boys had to look as if they enjoyed it too. 
Each boy was furnished with a pair of the ordinary hide sandals, which 
he wore on his hands instead of his feet. At stated intervals, the men 
put certain questions to the boys, respecting their future life when 
admitted into the society of men. 

For example, the youth is tried in some such way as the following : 

" Will you herd the cattle well ?" asks the rhan. 

" I will," answers the boy, at the same time lifting his sandalled hands 
over his head. The man then leaps forward, and with his full force 
strikes at the boy's head. The blow is received on the uplifted sandals, 
but the elasticity of the long switch causes it to curl over the boy's head 
with such force that a deep gash is made in his back, some twelve or 
eighteen inches in length, from which the blood spurts as if it were made 
with a knife. Ever afterward, the lesson that he is to guard the cattle is 
supposed to be indelibly impressed on the boy's mind. 

Then comes another question, "Will you guard the chief well?" 

" I will," replies the boy, and another stroke impresses that lesson on 
the boy's mind. And thus they proceeded, until the whole series of 



108 STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

questions has been asked and properly answered. The worst part of the 
proceedings is, that the boys are obliged, under penalty of rejection, to 
continue their dance, to look pleased and happy, and not to wince at the 
terrible strokes which cover their bodies with blood, and sieam their backs 
with scars that last throughout their lifetime. Painful as this ordeal must 
be, the reader must not think that it is nearly so formidable to the 
Bechuanas as it -would be to Americans. In the first place, the nervous 
system of a white man is far more sensitive than that of South African 
natives, and injuries which would lay him prostrate have but little effect 
upon them. Moreover, their skin, from constant exposure to the ele- 
ments, is singularly insensible, so that the stripes do not inflict a tenth 
part of the pain that they would if suffered by a white person. 

Only the older men are allowed to take part in this mode of instruction 
of the boys, and if any man should attempt it who is not qualified, he is 
unpleasantly reminded of his presumption by receiving on his own 
shoulders the stripes which he intended to inflict on the boys. 

TOUGHENING AFRICAN GIRLS. 

The girls have to pass an ordeal of a somewhat similar character before 
they are admitted among the women, and can hope to attain the ^ummit 
of an African girl's hopes, namely, to be married. If possible, the details 
of the ceremony are kept even more strictly secret than is the case with 
the boys, but a part of it necessarily takes place in public, and is there- 
fore well known. 

The girls are commanded by an old and experienced woman, always a 
stern and determined personage, who carries them off into the woods, 
and there instructs them in all the many arts which they will have to 
practise when married. Clad in a strange costume, composed of ropes of 
melon-seeds and bits of quill, the ropes being passed over both shoulders 
and across their bodies in a figure-of-eight position, they are drilled 
into walking with large pots of water on their heads. Wells are pur- 
posely chosen which are at a considerable distance, in order to inure the 
girls to fatigue, and the monitress always chooses the most inclement 
days for sending them to the greatest distance. They have to carry 
heavy loads of wood, to handle agricultural tools, to build houses, and, 
in fact, to practise before marriage those tasks which are sure to fall to 
their lot afterward. 

Capability of enduring pain is also insisted upon, and the monitress 
tests their powers by scorching their arms with burning charcoal. Of 
course, all these severe labors require that the hand should be hard and 
iiorny, and accordingly the last test which the girls have to endure is 
holding in the hand for a certain time a piece of hot iron. 

Rough and rude as this school of instruction may be, its purport is 
judicious enough; inasmuch as when the girls are married, and enter 
upon their new duties, they do so with a full and practical knowledge of 
them, and so escape the punishment which they would assuredly receive 
if they were to fail in their tasks. The name of the ceremony is called 
" Bogale." During the time that it lasts, the girls enjoy several privi- 
leges, one of which is highly prized. If a boy who has not passed through 
his ordeal should come in their way, he is at once pounced upon and 
held down by some, while others bring a supply of thorn branches, and 
beat him severely with this unpleasant rod. Should they be in sufficient 



STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 109 

numbers, they are not very particular whether the trespasser be pro- 
tected by the boguera or not ; and instances have been known when . 
they have captured adult men, and disciplined them so severely that they 
bore the scars ever afterward. 

THEY LIKE FAT WOMEN. 

An odd if not altogether commendable custom of another tribe, the 
Weezees, is worthy of notice. It is all a matter of taste, however. The 
fatter a woman is, the handsomer she is considered. Stanley was espe- 
cially struck by the extraordinary dimensions, yet pleasing beauty, of the 
king's immoderately fat but fair wife. 

She could not rise. So large were her arms that between the joints, 
the flesh hung like large loose bags. Then came in their children, all 
models of the Abyssinian type of beauty, and as polite in their manners 
as thorough-bred gentlemen. They were delighted in looking over his 
picture-books and making inquiries about them. 

Marriage is a matter of barter between the father and the intended 
husband, the former receiving cows, slaves, sheep, etc., for his daughter. 
Should, however, a bride not approve of her husband, by returning the 
marriage gifts she is again at liberty. The chief ceremony at marriages 
consists in tying up the bride in a skin, blackened all over, and carrying 
her with a noisy procession to her husband. 

MEASURING A VERY FAT LADY. 

The ladies of this countr>^ lead an easy life in many respects, their chief 
object, apparently, being to get as fat as possible. Many of them succeed 
wonderfully well, in consequence of their peculiar constitution, or from 
the food they eat being especially nutritious. Five of the king's wives 
were so enormous that they were unable to enter the door of any ordi- 
nary hut, or to move about without being supported by a person on 
either side. One of his sisters-in-law was of even still greater propor- 
tions. Stanley measured her ; round her arm was one foot eleven inches ; 
chest, four feet four inches; thigh, two feet seven inches; calf, one foot 
eight inches ; height, five feet eight inches. 

He could have obtained her height more accurately could he have had 
her laid on the floor ; but, knowing the difficulties he would have had to 
contend with in such a piece of engineering, he tried to get her height 
by raising her up. This, after infinite exertion, was accomplished, when 
she sank down again, fainting, for the blood had rushed into her head. 
Meanwhile the daughter, a lass of sixteen, sat before them, sucking at a 
milk-pot, on which the father kept her at work by holding a rod in his 
hand ; for, as fattening is one of the first duties of fashionable female life, 
it must be duly enforced with the road if necessary. The features of the 
damsel were lovely, but her body was as round as a ball. 

The women turn their stoutness to good ^count. In exchanging food 
for beads it is usual to purchase a certain quantity of food, which shall 
be paid for by a belt of beads that will go round the waist. The women 
of Karague being on an average twice as large round the waist as those 
of other districts, food practically rises a hundred per cent, in price. Not- 
withstanding their fatness their features retain much beauty, the face 
being oval and the eyes fine and intelligent. The higher class of women 



no STANLEY'S LAST EXPEDITION. 

are modest, not only wearing cow-skin petticoats, but a wrapper of black 
cloth, with which they envelop their whole bodies, merely allowing one- 
hand to be seen. 



CONCLUSION. 

What the future of Africa will be, it is impossible to conjecture. That 
it is a country of great possibilities, every one will admit. Its natural 
wealth, when developed by capital, will prove that it is a perfect Eden. 
Already commerce is pushing its way up the Congo, and there is talk of 
building a great railroad through the country of the Soudan. In these 
days of steam and electricity, civilization advances with giant strides, and 
it is not at all improbable that ten years hence, the mysteries of the Dark 
Continent will be no longer mysteries. Before the locomotive, the steam^ 
boat, and the electric telegraph, the wild beasts and savage tribes of 
Equatorial Africa will disappear, and like the bison and the American 
Indian, become only memories oPthe past. The haunt of the lion, and 
the feeding ground of the elephant and the giraffe will be occupied by 
well-tilled fields, and comfortable farm houses will take the place of the 
rude huts of the negro ; towns, villages, and cities will dot the plains, and 
Christian temples of worship will be erected, perchance on the very spot 
where the sacrificial fires of heathen idolatry once burned. The genera- 
tions that are to come will see these things, but even when the most 
benighted regions of Africa become civilized, the memory of the Colum- 
bus of the Dark Continent will be honored and revered, and the citizens 
of the new continent will erect monuments everywhere in. honor of the 
world's greatest explorer, HENRY M. STANLEY. 




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